Full text of "The Improvement Era"

'■;'■.':■■ ,_, 



October1970 






1836at"TheHouseof theLord" 



Six reasons why 
you'll enjoy living 

in Bloomington 



JM 




■/■ 



Couples enjoy year-round golf at Bloomington, just three miles south of St. George, Utah. 



1. Perfect, year-round climate: 

Golf, all winter if you like. The cham- 
pionship course is open every day 
of the year. And you'll enjoy the soft 
evening breeze as it flows from 
surrounding mountains to keep you 
cool and comfortable in summer. 

2. Good, Wholesome Atmosphere: 

The highest ideals and standards in 
community living are maintained at 
Bloomington along with a warm 
neighborly spirit. You'll also enjoy 
having the St. George Temple and Dixie 
College so close to your front door. 

3. Planned Community Living: 

Terracor's planning division, Environ- 
mental Design Group, worked carefully 
to protect and enhance the natural 
beauty of the rich, green Bloomington 
valley. All homesites are located near 
popular recreation facilities and 
underground utilities preserve the 
spectacular view. 



4. Unlimited Recreation: 

Golf, swim, play tennis or ride horses. Hunt, 
fish, or ski. You will enjoy organized camping 
trips, trail rides, guided tours to nearby 
National Parks, National Monuments and 
historic sites. Or how about barbecue cook- 
outs, golf lessons or swimming parties . . . 
you name it! There's no end to the year- 
round recreational facilities right at your 
fingertips in Bloomington. 

5. Close to friends and family . . . 
. . . but not too close: 

Los Angeles — 405 miles; Las Vegas — 126 miles; 
Salt Lake City — 313 miles. It's easy to visit 
these areas when you like, but they're also 
far enough away that you can enjoy some 
peaceful solitude if you desire it. 

6. Uncongested . . . room to roam: 

Bloomington provides a refreshing escape 
from today's crowded living conditions. The 
atmosphere is clean, quiet, and invigorating. 
You'll enjoy the elbow room and you'll 
breathe easier. 



Mail to: 

BLOOMINGTON 

P.O. Box 190 / St. George, Utah 

□ Please send me complete infor- 
mation about Bloomington. 

□ Have a salesman call to explain 
Bloomington in detail. 

Name 

Address 

City 

State Zip 

Phone 




TERRACOR 






KIRTLAND TEMPLE :; 

Hc*u~« ^f the V-A." . Joseph Smith,; Jr. called 
thr, bc'M.nq m ,..Hs ' - -> player 

March 27 f J838.' The c •r>. - „*,e weath r — 
-'- ~d s'~ .-tar" ~ * as a men*. -1 

to Sm;t*i " * > -- w*io sacrificed, their 
worldly goods- to build of local ■■. materials 
this impre vc Gothic: Revival and ^.Classic 
style temple : : 

: THE ARCHITECTS SOCIETY QT OHW 
AND : : 
■ : " THE 6HIO HiSTORiSAi SOCIETY: '„.■.._ 

ssse ' 3-43 



On the Cover 



Six miles south from the shore of Lake 
Erie and 25 miles northeast of modern- 
day Cleveland, Ohio, nestled in the 
Chagrin River Valley, is the charming 
and picturesque village of Kirtland. 
Little-known to the average Cleveland 
suburbanite, Kirtland is a great mile- 
stone in Latter-day Saint history. There 
for roughly six years, 1831-1837, the 
Prophet of God, Joseph Smith, Jr., was 
headquartered with the restored church. 

The Prophet was directed to the 
community by revelation. Thus, it is 
fitting that 35 revelations in our pres- 
ent-day Doctrine and Covenants were 
given to him while he resided at or 
near Kirtland, Ohio. In one of those 
revelations, the Lord indicated that he 
had given Kirtland to- the Saints as a 
"stronghold ... for the space of five 
.years." (D&C 64:21.) While in this 
"stronghold," the Saints were directed 
to build a temple to the Lord: ". . . And 
the size thereof shall be fifty and five 
feet in width, and let it be sixty-five feet 
in length." (D&C 95:15-16.) 

After three years of labor, the tem- 
ple was dedicated Sunday, March 27, 
1836. On that day, angels were seen; 
they mingled their voices with the con- 
gregation; and numerous Saints were 
blessed with an outpouring of the Spirit, 
some to prophesy, some to speak in 
tongues, some to see visions. (See 
Documentary History of the Church, 
Vol. 2, pages 427-428.) About a week 
later, the resurrected Jesus Christ vis- 
ited the temple to instruct the Prophet 
and Oliver Cowdery. Then three Old 
Testament prophets came and gave in- 
struction — Moses, Elias, and Elijah. 
Little wonder, then, that the "House 
of the Lord" was the gathering place for 
the Saints — for worship, instruction, 
and the joyful communion of fellow 
believers. 

Our cover illustration was painted by 
Douglas Johnson, a director in the 
Brigham Young University Motion Pic- 
ture Department. For related article, 
see page 4, "Kirtland Revisited." 




Voice of the Church 
Volume 73, Number 10 
October1970 



Special Features 



2 Editor's Page: Use the Programs of the Church, President Joseph Field 

ing Smith 
4 Kirtland Revisited, Dr. G. Dale Weight and Dr. Earl M. Mortensen 
9 Ancient Landings in America, John Lear 

12 Renewed Latter-day Saint Interest in the Phoenicians, Dr. Ross T. 
Christensen 

16 The Instructor — A Voice of Truth for 105 Years, Dr. Lorin F. Wheel- 
wright 

22 The Primary Children's Hospital — Takes a Big Step Forward, Berneli 
W. Berrett 

29 Person to Person Rehabilitation, Allen R. Howell 

75 Church Magazines Conversion Rules 

78 About Values and Facts, Dr. Lael J. Woodbury 

82 The Trustworthiness of Young Joseph Smith, Dr. Richard Lloyd Ander- 
son 



Regular Features 

The LDS Scene 

Teaching: The Problem of Evil, Dr. William E. Berrett 

The Church Moves On 

Research & Review, The Qualities Students Want in a Teacher (or 
Parent), Albert L. Payne 

Today's Family: Have a Family "Read-In," Mary Ellen MacArthur 
Presiding Bishop's Page: The Presiding Bishop Discusses How the 
Church Helps Youth Meet the Problems of Today, Bishop John H. 
Vandenberg 
Buffs and Rebuffs 

These Times: The Soviet-West German Treaty, Dr. G. Homer Durham 
End of an Era 
30, 32, 35, 39 

The Spoken Word, Richard L Evans 



34 
36 
62 
65 

68 
72 



90 
93 
95 



42 
46 
49 
50 

54 



56 



74, 76 



Era OT \buth Marion D. Hanks and Elaine Cannon, Editors 

LDSSA Conference, David Bly 

Laurelife Is ... , Sue Gardiner 

New Youth Magazine 

What Is the Church Saying to You? Elaine Cannon 

What Do You Read? Nancy Twitty 

Fiction and Poetry 

And Then We Grow, Ken ley Reese 



Poetry 



Joseph Fielding Smith, Richard L. Evans, Editors; Doyle L. Green, Managing Editor; Jay M. Todd, Assistant Managing Editor; Eleanor 
Knowles, Copy Editor; Mabel Jones Gabbott, Manuscript Editor; Albert L. Zobell, Jr., Research Editor; G. Homer Durham, Hugh 
Nibley, Albert L. Payne. Truman G. Madsen. Elliott Landau, Leonard Arrington, Contributing Editors; Marion D. Hanks, Era of Youth 
Editor; Elaine Cannon, Era of Youth Associate Editor: Ralph Reynolds. Art Director; Norman Price, Staff Artist. 
W. Jay Elaredge, General Manager; Florence S. Jacobsen, Associate General Manager; Verl F. Scott. Business Manager; A. Glen 
Snarr, Circulation Manager; S. Glenn Smith. Advertising Representative. 

©General Superintendent, Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1970; 
published by the Mutual Improvement Associations. All rights reserved. 

Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided 
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advertisements of interest to readers, but doing so does not imply Church endorsement of the advertiser or his product. 
Official organ of the Priesthood Quorums, Mutual Improvement Associations, Home Teaching Committee, Music 
Committee, Church School System, and other agencies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

The Improvement Era, 79 South State, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 



Era, October 1970 1 



Use the Programs of the Church 




The 
Editor's Fkge 



By President Joseph Fielding Smith 



• The Lord has given us a perfect church organiza- 
tion. We have everything we need to keep us in 
paths of truth and righteousness. If we walk in the 
course charted for us, we shall live happy and upright 
lives here in this world, and then be inheritors in the 
world to come of that fullness of reward found only 
in the celestial kingdom. 

Paul said of the organization of the Church: ". . . 
God hath set some in the church, first apostles, sec- 
ondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, 
then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities 
of tongues." (1 Cor. 12:28.) 

In other words, the Lord has set up in his church 
a priesthood organization headed by apostles and 
prophets. And he has also given other organizations, 
called "helps" and "governments" to aid and assist 
in the priesthood. 

In every gospel dispensation there are special 
needs to be met, problems to be solved, and help that 
must be given to assist and aid the members of the 
Church in working out their salvation "with fear and 
trembling" before the Lord. (See Phil. 2:12.) Hence 
we have auxiliary organizations to aid and assist the 
priesthood. They are so organized as to meet the 
needs of the people in whatever social conditions may 
exist. They are part of the government of God and 
are set up to help members of the Church perfect 
their lives and do those things which assure them of 
joy and happiness in this life and eternal life in the 
life to come. 

For example, acting under the inspiration of heaven, 
President Brigham Young laid the foundation of the 
Mutual Improvement Associations. He called upon 
the youth of the Church to retrench, to turn to basic 
principles, to overcome the world, and to keep the 



commandments of God. To the leaders called to work 
with the young people he said: "Let the keynote 
of your work be the establishment in the youth of an 
individual testimony of the truth and magnitude of the 
great Latter-day work, and the development of 
the gifts within them." 

The great spiritual blessings of the gospel are ad- 
ministered through the priesthood organizations. The 
crowning blessing of life is to receive the fullness of 
the priesthood in the house of the Lord. 

But many helps and much encouragement are 
needed along the way. There are many refining in- 
fluences, numerous things that increase faith and 
multiply testimony, many things that instill desires for 
righteousness in our hearts— all of which aid us in 
perfecting our God-given talents. 

The chief responsibility to do these things which 
lead to salvation rests with each individual. All of us 
have been placed on earth to undergo the testing 
experiences of mortality. We are here to see if we 
will keep the commandments and overcome the world, 
and we must do all that we can for ourselves. 

The next responsibility for our salvation rests with 
our families. Parents are set to be lights and guides 
to their children and are commanded to bring them 
up in light and truth, teaching them the gospel and 
setting proper examples. Children are expected to 
obey their parents, and to honor and respect them. 

The Church and its agencies constitute in effect a 
service organization to help the family and the indi- 
vidual. Home teachers, priesthood leaders, and bishops 
are appointed to lead those with whom they labor 
to eternal life in our Father's kingdom, and the aux- 
iliary organizations are appointed to aid and assist in 
this great work of salvation. 



We cannot stress too strongly the great need to 
utilize all of these programs for the benefit and 
blessing of all our Father's children. 

I plead with the young and rising generation to 
accept counsel and direction from their leaders and 
to seek righteousness with all their hearts. 

If all of us do all of the things we should in carry- 
ing forward the programs' of the Church, the Lord 
will bless and prosper us so fully that success shall 
attend our labors, and out of it all peace and joy will 
be our lot here and eternal glory hereafter. 

To the young people of Zion everywhere, and to 
the whole world, I bear testimony of the truth and 
divinity of this great latter-day work. 

Let all men know assuredly that we have the truth, 
and that the Lord has revealed in these last days— 
primarily through the instrumentality of the Prophet 
Joseph Smith— the fullness of the everlasting gospel. 

This testimony comes by the promptings of the 
Holy Spirit, by the whisperings of the still small voice 
to our souls. 

I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus 
Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world; 
that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God who was called 
by the Almighty to restore for the last time on earth 
the saving truths of his gospel; and that The Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in literal reality 
the kingdom of God on earth, the one place where the 
truths of salvation are found, the one place where 
men may come to the Lord's holy priesthood and be 
sealed up into eternal life. 

I pray that the spirit of testimony may abound in 
the hearts of the Latter-day Saints; that all of us may 
be valiant in testimony; and that together we may sit 
down in the kingdom of our Father. O 



Era, October 1970 3 



m 









ii***^ 



. " 










Kirtland 
Revisited 



By Dr. G. Dale Weight and 
Dr. Earl M. Mortensen 

• Many a northern Ohio resident 
has driven through the beautiful 
Chagrin River Valley, following 
the winding river to Kirtland, 
Ohio. As the visitor approaches 
the last hill from the valley floor, 
he sees a majestic building known 
in the area as "the old Mormon 
temple," which stands as a me- 
morial to the nearly 4,000 Saints 
who settled in and around Kirt- 
land in the 1830s. Now, after 
135 years, little remains of the 
original community. The land is 
rapidly being taken up by sub- 
urban residents of Cleveland; 
industries in the city have long 
since disappeared. The accom- 
panying photographs show what 
remains today of this historic 
community. 



ii i ' inpim 



» 









Built for worship and not for vi- 
carious ordinances, as are modern 
temples, the Kirtland Temple was 
constructed of stone and then 
plastered with stucco containing 
small pieces of fine china and 
crystal to give the building a 
glistening effect. Its dedication 
in March 1836 was marked with 
numerous heavenly manifesta- 
tions, including the visitation of 
the Savior, Moses, Elias, and 
Elijah. 



About three miles south of the 
temple is the limestone quarry 
where stone for the temple was 
quarried. Portions of the cut 



stone and quarry marks still are 
visible. The Prophet, members of 
the First Presidency, high priests, 
and elders worked in the quarry. 



Joseph Street, adjacent to the 
temple block, is silent evidence of 
the "City of Ziori" plan designed 
by Joseph Smith in 1833 for en- 
larging Kirtland. 




Store of Newell K. Whitney and 
Algernon Sidney Gilbert, with 
whom Joseph Smith and his wife, 
Emma, lived for several weeks in 
the upper portion of this building 
(now partially restored) imme- 
diately after their arrival in Kirt- 
land in February 1831. See His- 
tory of the Church, Volume 1, 
page 146, for the fascinating story 
on the arrival of Joseph Smith. 





Dr. G. Dale Weight, a Sunday School teacher in the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) 
Second Ward, is assistant vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of 
Cleveland, Pittsburgh Branch. Dr. Earl M. Mortensen, Cleveland (Ohio) Stake 
YMMIA superintendent, is associate professor of chemistry at Cleveland State 
University. 



North of the temple in a small 
cemetery are the gravestones of 
Hyrum Smith's wife, Jerusha 
Barden Smith, and the Prophet's 
grandmother, Mary B. Smith. 
Also buried nearby are the Proph- 
et's twin son and daughter, who 
lived but three hours after their 
birth in 1831. 



Johnson barn, partially restored 
with new roof and siding, was 
built during days of the Prophet. 





Johnson home fireplace served as 
heater, stove, and oven for the 
Smith family. 



6 Era, October 1970 




Joseph Smith Instructing the Breth- 
ren is a new painting commissioned 
by the Church for use in visitors 
centers and Church literature. 
Painted by John Falter, well-known 
American illustrator, the scene rep- 
resents occasions (such as occurred 
in Joseph Smith's School of the 
Prophets) when Joseph Smith in- 
structed Church leaders on the 
doctrine and principles of the Re- 
stored Church. 



In this now calm and serene area 
a few hundred feet from the John- 
son farmhouse, the Prophet Jo- 
seph Smith and Sidney Rigdon 
suffered a brutal attack by mob- 
bers on the night of March 24, 
1832. Both men bore traces of 
the beating the rest of their lives. 




This recently restored house was 
the home of President Sidney 
Rigdon. A former minister of a 
congregation in Mentor, five miles 
north, President Rigdon was in- 
strumental in bringing many 
Saints into the Church. 




In September 1831, Joseph Smith 
and his family moved to the John- 
son farmhouse at Hiram, about 
30 miles southeast of Kirtland. 
Numerous council and conference 
meetings were held at this home, 
where the Prophet lived for sev- 
eral months. Some 15 revelations 
in the Doctrine and Covenants 
were received here. The farm- 
house has been partially restored. 



Handhewn beams from hardwood, 
fastened together by wooden pins, 
show craftsmanship of the John- 
son barn. 



Signs on 
Metcalf Stone 


Similar signs in 
Minoan writing 


1 


l 


»1*» 


o 





"100" 




4 


"1000'» 


t 


V 


"1/60" 


h 


\ 


da 


W 


% 


. / 

ra 


V 


V 


ta 


V 


— 


^ "double -axfe*' 


< 


« 


"ingot" 



• Almost 3,500 years ago the an- 
cestors of one of America's surviv- 
ing Indian tribes came to the 
Western Hemisphere from the 
Mediterranean Sea. 

In the year 531 B.C., another band 
of men from the land of Canaan 
reached the shore of what is now 
Brazil. 

Such statements would have had 
no chance of being taken seriously 
a few years ago. But evidence that 
they are true is circulating in the 
scientific community this summer 
even as Thor Heyerdahl, the Nor- 
wegian hero of the Kon-Tiki raft 
expedition across the Pacific Ocean, 
sails the Atlantic in a boat made of 
reeds in his second attempt to prove 
that communication between the 
Old and the New worlds has been 
possible for tens of centuries. 

Heyerdahl did not hear about 
these ancient mariners before his 
reed boat put out from the Moroc- 



*John Lear, "Ancient Landings in America," 
Saturday Review, July 18, 1970, pp. 18f. Re- 
printed by permission. 



Ancient 

Landings 

in America' 



By John Lear 



An American Indian tribe may 
have ancestors in common with 
the Hebrews of the Bible. 



-Illustrations courtesy "Manuscripts" 

can port of Safi last May. The in- 
formation had been published in 
quiet scholarly journals by Profes- 
sor Cyrus H. Gordon, head of the 
department of Mediterranean stud- 
ies at Brandeis University, whose 
writings are the source of what 
I shall report here. 

In Manuscripts, a quarterly of 
the Manuscript Society, Gordon 
published an account of events that 
began on the U.S. military reserva- 
tion at Fort Benning, Georgia. The 
ruins of an old property called 
Underwood Mill are there. Among 
the ruins are some flat stones that 
attracted the attention of Manfred 
Metcalf, a Fort Benning civilian 
employee, when he was assigned to 
build a barbeque pit in the autumn 
of 1966. 

One of the stones that Metcalf 
chose for his purpose was a sand- 
stone tinged brownish yellow. 
While cleaning it with the intent 
of putting it into the pit lining, 
Metcalf noticed that the stone was 
inscribed with odd markings. He 



Comparison of Aztee glyphs from Mex- 
ico with Cretan glyphs on the Phaistos 
Disc by Magnus Grodys of Norway 



MEXICO 



CRETE 








decided that the marks might be 
significant and that he should turn 
the stone over to the Columbus 
(Georgia) Museum of Arts and 
Crafts. 

Joseph B. Mahan, Jr., director of 
the museum's department of edu- 
cation and research, accepted the 
stone from Metcalf. Mahan is a 
specialist in American Indian 
archaeology and ethnology. He 
happened at that moment to be 
studying the culture of the Yuchi 
Indian tribe. 

The Yuchis had lived in Georgia 
but had been driven out of their 
home and had settled in Oklahoma 
in 1836. Mahan found them racially 
and linguistically different from 
other Indians. They said they had 
come to western Georgia from the 
south. They also said they had 
originally reached America from 
the east. The south could mean 
only the Gulf of Mexico, east of 
which lay the Atlantic Ocean. 

One custom of the Yuchis drew 
Mahan's special notice. It was a 



Era, October 1970 9 



pilgrimage the tribesmen made to 
their cultural center on the fifteenth 
day of the sacred month of harvest. 
For eight days they lived in booths 
with roofs open to the sky but cov- 
ered Over with branches and 
foliage. Throughout the eight days 
the festival was punctuated with 

"...Brazilian stone 
claimed to be 
from "Sidonian 
Canaanites." . 

long, circuitous walks around a fire 
that was always kept alight. Several 
of the tribesmen carried long, leaf - 
crested branches as they walked. 
At certain times in the celebration, 
large numbers of men would not 
only carry the branches but would 
shake them vigorously. 

Mahan saw a close resemblance 
between this pilgrimage of the 
Yuchis and the Hebrew Feast of 
the Booths ( "Tabernacles" or "Suk- 
koth" ) . He thought it was too close 
to be accidental. The biblical Book 
of Leviticus in Chapter 23 pre- 
scribes an eight-day harvest cele- 
bration starting on the fifteenth day 
of the sacred month. During this 
period the people were to live in 
booths open to the sky but covered 
for the occasion with foliage, fruits, 
and vegetables. Verse 37 of Chapter 
23 of Leviticus mentions a counter- 
part of the Yuchi fire. 

The fire is missing from modern 
Jewish observation of the Feast of 
Booths. All details, however, are 
the ones the Yuchis practice, in- 
cluding the ceremonial shaking of 
branches and the circumambu- 
lations. 

Mahan had this store of informa- 
tion in his head when Metcalf 
brought the stone from the ruins 
of the old mill at Fort Benning. 
Suppose the Yuchis were descen- 



dants of the same people from 
whom the Hebrews sprang. Might 
the markings on Metcalf 's stone be 
clues to the story of how; this 
strange Indian tribe had reached 
Georgia from the Mediterranean? 

By the spring of 1968, Metcalf's 
speculations about the stone be- 
came too strong for him to contain 
any longer. He sent a cast of it to 
Professor Gordon at Brandeis. 
Gordon matched the markings on 
the stone against characters in the 
script used by the Minoan people, 
whose capital in the Bronze Age- 
about 3,500 years ago— was Knossos 
on the island of Crete. 

After studying the inscription, 
Gordon concluded that there were 
affinities between it and Minoan 
writing. As he put it: 

"The double-axe in the lower left 
corner is of course reminiscent of 
Minoan civilization. The single 
vertical lines remind us of the verti- 
cal lines standing each for the 
numeral '1' in the Aegean syllabary; 
while the little circles stand for 
100.' The spoked circle at the be- 
ginning of the third line might be a 
pictograph of the sun, but I think 
it is more likely a large number 
like 1000' or 10,000/ In Minoan, 
a circle with four spokes equals 
1000.' On the Metcalf Stone there 
are seven spokes, suggesting that if 
1000' is not the value, perhaps it 
is some larger round number such 
as 10,000' . . . !" 

The numerals left him with the 
impression that the text may have 
been an inventory, with the final 
line consisting of the double-ax, a 
Minoan fraction standing for 1/60 
of the whole, and an ingot. A pos- 
sible translation, he thought, might 
have been "a double-ax weighing 
one mina and made of copper." He 
presented this, however, as "merely 
a provisional suggestion." 

Gordon made a preliminary study 
of key words in Yuchi and could 
not detect any relationship between 



them and any other languages 
known to him. Consequently, he 
proposed no linguistic identification 
of the Metcalf Stone "but only a 
connection with the Aegean script." 

Last February, after his report in 
Manuscripts was published, Gordon 
had an opportunity to show a cast 
of the stone to Stanislav Segert, pro- 
fessor of Semitic languages at the 
University of Prague, Czecho- 
slovakia, who identified the script 
as a product of the second millen- 
nium before Christ, at a time when 
the Aegean peoples were shifting 
from a syllabary— a system of writ- 
ten characters representing spoken 
syllables— to an alphabet. 

Segert is a conservative linguist 
of international repute. His char- 
acterization of the Metcalf Stone 
provided further substantiation of a 
pattern of new discoveries that 
Gordon had put together. Earlier, 
a set of similarities between Minoan 
writing and Mayan writing had 
been pointed out by Pierre Honore 
in his book In Quest of the White 
God (Putnam, New York, 1964). 
And independent of both the Met- 
calf Stone and Honores observa- 
tions was a third set of striking 
similarities between the Phaistos 
Disc from Crete and glyphs of the 
Aztecs. These last were called to 
Gordon's attention by Magnus 
Grodys of Norway. 

Ancient Aegean writing near 
three different sectors of the Gulf 
of Mexico could only "reflect 
Bronze Age transatlantic communi- 
cation between the Mediterranean 
and the New World around the 
middle of the second millennium 
B.C.," Gordon wrote in Manuscripts, 
adding: 

"The reader should not get the 
impression that the links between 
the Old and the New Worlds in 
antiquity are limited to the data 
outlined above. The facts pouring 
in from every side bring us to the 
same general conclusion that an- 



10 



cient American civilization was 
stimulated by transoceanic contacts 
from the east and west; among them 
contacts with the Mediterranean 
were especially creative. This is 
borne out by the discovery of Alex- 
ander von Wuthenau that before 
300 ad. no American Indian types 
are depicted in the tens of thou- 
sands of sculptured ceramic figu- 
rines from Mesoamerica. . . . [The 
images are] only Far Eastern, Afri- 
can Negro, and various Mediter- 
ranean types— especially Semites." 

In Dialogue, a Mormon journal, 
Gordon discussed a copy of a 
Canaanite text that was mailed to 
the Institute Historico in Rio de 
Janeiro in 1872 by a person who 
claimed in the covering letter that 
his slaves had found an inscribed 
stone on his plantation at Pouso 
Alto near Paraiba. There are two 
Paraibas in Brazil, one near Rio de 
Janeiro and the other far to the 
north where Brazil protrudes east- 
ward toward Africa. Because of 
confusion over the two sites, the 
stone itself has never been recov- 
ered, although it is now being 
sought in the southern region of 
Paraiba by Estanislau Vera, a jurist 
in Rio. 

Professor Jules Piccus of the 
University of Massachusetts dis- 
covered an unpublished 1874 tran- 
script of the Brazil text in 1968. 
Piccus sent Gordon a Xerox copy of 
the 1874 facsimile and asked for an 
opinion. Gordon found the text full 
of data that were unknown to 
scholars in the 1870s but that have 
come to light since then. Gordon 
took this as evidence that the text 
was genuine, and he identified the 
inscription as a nonfunerary com- 
memorative text in three parts: an 
introduction identifying the author, 
the body of the text narrating the 
event commemorated, and a finale 
invoking divine favor. His trans- 
lation reads as follows: 

"We are Sidonian Canaanites 



from the city of the Mercantile 
King. We were cast up on this 
distant shore, a land of mountains. 
We sacrificed a youth to the celes- 
tial gods and goddesses in the nine- 
teenth year of our mighty King 
Hiram and embarked from Ezionge- 
ber into the Red Sea. We voyaged 
with ten ships and were at sea 
together for two years around 
Africa. Then we were separated by 
the hand of Baal and were no 
longer with our companions. So we 
have come here, twelve men and 
three women, into 'New Shore.' 
Am I, the admiral, a man who 
would flee? Nay! May the celestial 
gods and goddesses favor us well!" 

Gordon said the King Hiram 
mentioned was not Hiram I ( tenth 
Century B.C.), but Hiram III (553- 
533 b.c.). Since the voyagers left 
home in the nineteenth year of his 
reign, the year of embar cation was 
therefore 534 b.c. Two-and-a- 
fraction years later, when the ship 
reached Brazil ("New Shore"), the 
year was 531 b.c. 

"Accordingly," Gordon conclud- 
ed, "in the sixth century b.c. we 
know of one vessel that crossed the 
Atlantic with fifteen people from 
Canaan." 

"From the hand of Baal" means 
"by an act of God" and, Gordon 
noted, does not necessarily imply 
that the ocean crossing was acci- 
dental, because of a storm. Lots 
may have been drawn to determine 
which ship should sail to America. 

Who were the Canaanites? Ac- 
cording to Gordon, the term has 
two meanings in biblical Hebrew: 
"As a common noun it means 
merchants'; as a proper noun it 
designates a group of linguistically 
related inhabitants of Lebanon- 
Syria-Palestine embracing Phoeni- 
cians, Hebrews, Edomites, Moab- 
ites, and others." Gordon cautioned 
against the common mistake of 
imagining people in terms of stereo- 
types. Although all Phoenicians are 



thought of as sailors, many in fact 
were craftsmen and even farmers. 
The Hebrews "are often fancied to 
be a nation of Yahwistic land lub- 
bers; but the Bible tells us that . 
three of the tribes ( Dan, Asher, and 
Zebulun ) were nautical ( Genesis 

49:13; Judges 5:17) " Hebrews 

may have been in the Brazilian ex- 
pedition, Gordon wrote, but that 
"cannot as yet be proved" from the 
inscription. The Canaanite speech- 
community embraced both Yah- 
wists and Baalists. The text men- 
tions Baal but not Yahweh. 

What kinds of ships these ancient 
mariners used in sailing from the 
land of Canaan to America is still 
a mystery. Many passages in the 
Bible suggest that the cedars of 
Lebanon were always sought for 
long voyages by the Hebrews and 
the people they traded with. Thor 
Heyerdahl persists in believing that 
trips across the Atlantic could have 
been accomplished— either by acci- 
dent or by design— in boats made 
of reeds. 

Last year Hyerdahl constructed, 
behind the pyramids of Giza in 
Egypt, a reed basket shaped like a 
swan just under 50 feet long and 
just over 16 feet wide with a bottom 
4.5 feet thick. In May 1969 he sailed 
in this craft from the Atlantic port 
of Safi in Morocco with a crew of 
seven men from as many different 
nations. Because of faults in the 
design, the reed boat— which had 
been christened Ra after the Egyp- 
tian sun god— had to be abandoned 
after traveling 2,700 miles and 
within a week's sail of Barbados. 

Still convinced that his theories 
are correct, Hyerdahl this year built 
a somewhat shorter reed boat in 
courtyard of Taib Amara, the Pasha 
of Safi. Heyerdahl set sail in it on 
May 17, again with an international 
crew under the United Nations' 
flag, with the expectation of reach- 
ing Yucatan before the end of 
summer. O 



Era, October 1970 11 




Renewed 

Latter day Saint 

Interest in 

, The 

Phoenicians 

By Dr. Ross T. Christensen 

Illustrated by Jerry Pulsipher 



• Members of the Church are no 
doubt aware of a number of recent 
attempts to establish the reality of 
transoceanic contacts between the 
Old World and the New prior to 
Columbus. 

The most highly publicized of 
these attempts may have been the 
epic voyages, from Morocco on the 
Atlantic coast of Africa to the 
island of Barbados off the north 
coast of South America, of the 
intrepid Norwegian mariner and 
scientist, Thor Heyerdahl, in reed 
boats christened the Rd (1969) 
and Rd II (1970). You will no doubt 
remember Heyerdahl's 1947 voyage 
of the Kon Tiki in which he demon- 
strated the feasibility of crossing 
the Pacific in a vessel fashioned to 
imitate those known to have plied 



the west coast of South America 
at the coming of the Spaniards. His 
experiments of 1969 and 1970 now 
make it clear that ancient civilized 
peoples of the Mediterranean area 
were able to cross the Atlantic to 
the Americas in vessels fashioned 
after those illustrated in wall 
paintings of ancient Egyptian 
tombs. But other efforts to investi- 
gate the presumed crossings of an- 
cient man are also worthy of note. 
A symposium on transoceanic con- 
tacts was held as a special feature 
of the 1968 annual meeting of the 
Society for American Archaeology 
in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Most of 
the 28 papers listed to be read at 
the symposium bore directly on the 
question of contact between the 
Old and New Worlds, across 



Dr. Ross T. Christensen, professor of archaeology and anthropology at Brig- 
ham Young University, spent the year 1968-69 in research on Phoenician 
civilization. He teaches the Gospel Doctrine class in the Orem 35th Ward. 



12 



! r 'W' : " 



(New Evidence on Pre-Columbian Crossings 
to the Ancient New World) 



either the Atlantic Ocean or the 
Pacific. Such subjects as the fol- 
lowing were presented: boats and 
rafts; transoceanic travels of maize 
(corn), beans, squash, coconuts, 
sweet potatoes, cotton, and gourds, 
and of chickens and pottery; Vin- 
land; Quetzalcoatl; and the contro- 
versy between Diffusionism and 
Independent Inventionism. 

One of the most significant 
papers was read by a Latter-day 
Saint, Dr. John L. Sorenson, who 
listed 140 specific trait correspon- 
dences and grouped them together 
into 21 major categories. His con- 
clusion: ". . . to a significant degree 
Mesoamerican civilization had 
roots in the Near East." 

Evidence at present suggests 
that the principal agents of pre- 
Columbian contact between the 
two hemispheres may have been 
the Phoenicians. Hence, some 
scholars have awakened to a keen 



interest in the Phoenician civiliza- 
tion and an intense curiosity about 
evidence favoring ancient trans- 
atlantic crossings. 

Latter-day Saints also should 
find this development interesting, 
from both the biblical and the Book 
of Mormon viewpoints. There is a 
good possibility, in fact, that the 
Mulekites of the latter scripture 
were largely Phoenician in their 
ethnic origin. 

Just who were the Phoenicians, 
and how did they relate to the 
peoples of the Bible and the Book 
of Mormon? The Phoenician civili- 
zation was Semitic, and its original 
speech was identical with ancestral 
Hebrew. Its homeland lay along 
the eastern coast of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea from northern Palestine 
to a point opposite the island of 
Cyprus. Actually, they were one 
of the peoples that lived in the 
area known as Canaan. Hence, at 



Era, October 1970 13 



a point in their history they were 
identified and called Canaanites. 
Today the people of Lebanon are 
probably their purest descendants. 
Although Arabic in speech because 
of the Moslem conquest of the 
seventh century A.D., the Lebanese 
are nevertheless becoming aware 
that they are really Phoenicians. 

There are numerous references 
in the Bible to the Phoenicians. 
The most useful passages are found 
in the books of Kings, Chronicles, 
and Ezekiel. You may recall the 
remarkable friendship between 
King Hiram of Tyre and the kings 
David and Solomon of Israel. Tyre 
was at that time the principal 

". . .the Lebanese 
are becoming 

aware that they 

are really 

Phoenicians." 

kingdom of the Phoenicians, and 
in fact the terms Tyrian and 
Sidonian (from Sidon, another 
important Phoenician city) were 
synonyms for Phoenician. 

Recently, Dr. William F. Al- 
bright has shown that the great 
day of Phoenician exploration and 
colonization in the Mediterranean 
area began shortly after King David 
destroyed the Philistine empire 
about 990 B.C. With this act, not 
only was Israel freed but Phoenicia 
also. In any case, only shortly 
after this, clear evidence appears of 
Phoenician activity in the Medi- 
terranean, even to a point as far 
westward as Spain. 

Later, when Sargon II, king of 
Assyria, led the northern tribes of 
Israel away as slaves— about 721 
B.C.— he also conquered the Phoeni- 
cians, who were never powerful 
after that. However, they did not 



come to an end as a free people 
until the year 572 B.C., when 
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 
conquered them shortly after his 
destruction of Jerusalem. 

With this brief biblical back- 
ground, consider some of the Book 
of Mormon possibilities. The Ne- 
phite scripture recounts the coming 
of three distinct colonies from the 
ancient Near East: that of Jared 
and his brother, that of Lehi, and 
that of Mulek. Who were these 
"Mulekites" or, as Mormon refers 
to the descendants of this last- 
mentioned colony, "people of Zara- 
hemla"? 

No answer is given in the text, 
except for the mention of Mulek 
himself, a young son of King 
Zedekiah who evidently, unknown 
to the authors of the Bible, escaped 
the wrath of the Babylonians. He 
was, of course, a Jew of the house 
of David. But what of the mem- 
bers of his colony? 

If you had been the guardian of 
a young scion of the royal family, 
charged with protecting his life, 
and you had known that the rest of 
the king's sons were rounded up 
and slaughtered in the presence of 
their father and then the mon- 
arch's eyes put out in order that his 
last visual memory might be of the 
death of his flesh and blood (2 
Kings 25:7 and Jeremiah 39:6-7), 
perhaps you would have taken 
drastic action. 

If you had wanted to leave by 
sea, whose help would you have 
sought? Who were the finest mar- 
iners in existence in that genera- 
tion? The Phoenicians. It was the 
Phoenicians who had circumnavi- 
gated the continent of Africa not 
long before this-about 660 B.C.- 
for the first time in recorded his- 
tory. This was done during the 
lifetime of Zedekiah and at the 
behest of Necho II, Pharaoh of 
Egypt. Following the sixth century, 
no such feat was accomplished 



again for another 2,000 years, when 
the Portuguese navigator, Vasco da 
Gama, did it in 1498. 

It is only a hypothesis,** of course, 
that Mulek escaped with the help 
of Phoenician mariners, but this 
view takes on substance when one 
considers the name of the principal 
watercourse of the Book of Mor- 
mon: the river Sidon. In fact, the 
Sidon is the only river 'even men- 
tioned in the record. Why would 
the Nephites give the name of the 
principal metropolis of the Phoeni- 
cian homeland— Sidon— to their main 
watercourse? The answer is prob- 
ably that the Nephites did not give 
it that name; the Mulekites did. The 
first mention of the Sidon in the 
Nephite record, in fact, is not until 
after King Mosiah brought his 
people down out of their mountain 
kingdom about 200 B.C. and dis- 
covered the city of Zarahemla. 

Omni records (vss. 17, 18) that 
in order to communicate with the 
newly discovered Mulekites, there 
had to be a lapse of time until they 
could be taught the Nephite lan- 
guage. The implication is that four 
centuries of isolation had resulted 
in marked differences between two 
languages supposedly derived from 
Hebrew. However, it is probably 
closer to the mark to think that the 
original Mulekite language was not 
Hebrew but actually Phoenician, a 
language closely related to Hebrew 
but sufficiently different even in 
600 B.C. for the difference to be 
recognized. Four hundred years 
later, the two tongues may have 
separately evolved to a point where 
they would hardly have been in- 
telligible to each other. 

The account of Hagoth in the 
Book of Mormon (Al. 63) finds 



°I obtained the essential idea of this 
Phoenician-Mulekite hypothesis years ago in a 
conversation with John L. Sorenson. So far as I 
know, the first published mention of it appears 
in his article in The Improvement Era, Vol. 60, 
(May 1957), pp. 330-31. Dr. Sorenson in turn 
may have gotten it during his student days at 
Brigham Young University from M. Wells Jake- 
man, his professor in archaeology. 



14 



some striking parallels in the his- 
tory of the Phoenicians and their 
descendants at Carthage. Hagoth's 
method of colonizing by sea was 
not typical of the ancient Israelites. 
But it was typical of the Phoeni- 
cians, and it is possible that 
Phoenician seamanship and atti- 
tudes toward the sea persisted for 
centuries among the Mulekites, at 
least to the time of Hagoth, around 
55 B.C. 

Quite aside from the fascinating 
likelihood of a specific Phoenician 
element in the Book of Mormon, it 
is becoming increasingly probable 
that Phoenician seamen reached 
other places in the New World 
during the great years of their 
civilization, i.e., roughly between 
1000 and 500 B.C. Actually, one 
could plot on a map, from New 
England to Brazil, the find-spots of 
a number of purported Phoenician 
inscriptions. But these writings 
discovered along the Atlantic sea- 
board probably have nothing to do 
with Book of Mormon peoples. 
They doubtless represent the visits 
of other travelers in no way con- 
nected with the Nephite scripture. 

A startling example is that of the 
Paraiba text found in Brazil in 1872. 
This commemorative inscription re- 
cords in the Phoenician language 
a voyage of mariners from Sidon 
who set sail into the Red Sea, cir- 
cumnavigated Africa in a clockwise 
direction, became separated from 
their nine companion ships in the 
South Atlantic, and landed pre- 
sumedly on the eastern tip of South 
America near Joao Pessoa. Thanks 
to the scholarship of Dr. Cyrus H. 
Gordon of Brandeis University be- 
ginning in 1968, the Paraiba text 
now yields a clear account of an 
actual voyage from the Near East 
to ancient America of which we 
can practically pinpoint the place 
and date of both departure and 
arrival. Embarkation: Sidon, 534 
B.C.; disembarkation, coast of 



Brazil, 531 B.C. Although there 
seems to be no connection with the 
Book of Mormon, note that this 
voyage took place in the same 
century as the voyages of Lehi and 
Mulek and also, incidentally, that 
of Necho of Egypt. 

An intriguing discovery— appar- 
ently unrelated either to the Phoeni-. 
cians or to the Book of Mormon 
account— is that of a site called 
Mystery Hill, located in the thickly 
wooded terrain near North Salem 
in southern New Hampshire. Else- 
where in New England more than 
75 other constructions of similar 
rough-hewn stonework have also 
been discovered. A prominent fea- 
ture of this whole puzzling complex 
of ruins is the corbeled vault or 
"beehive" roof. 

Some have said the Indians built 
the New England ruin sites, but 
they do not fit into Indian culture 
at all. Others have said they were 
built by early New England farm- 
ers of British extraction; but even 
though colonial farmers did in fact 
use them at a later time for stables 
and root cellars and left their arti- 
facts strewn about, it is clear that 
they were not the original builders, 
for the strange ruins are very un- 
English in their architecture. One 
writer was convinced that Mystery 
Hill had been built by a band of 
Irish monks fleeing from the Vik- 
ings. Another believed that the 
monks had been later occupants of 
the site but had not built it in the 
first place. 

None of these explanations, how- 
ever, is satisfactory. Recently, 
radiocarbon dating has assisted in 
formulating a better one. Mystery 
Hill seems to have been occupied 
around 1000 B.C. So far, the evi- 
dence argues for a transatlantic 
crossing of colonists connected with 
the "Megalithic Civilization" of the 
Late Bronze Age of western Eu- 
rope. 

In the July 18, 1970, issue of Sat- 



urday Review, John Lear wrote an 
article entitled "Ancient Landings 
in America: An American Indian 
Tribe may have Ancestors in Com- 
mon With the Hebrews of the 
Bible" (see p. 9). In it he tells of 
the work of Joseph B. Mahan, Jr., 
with the Yuchi tribe of Georgia; 
Cyrus H. Gordon's restudy of the 
Phoenician text from Brazil; Thor 
Heyerdahl's successful crossing of 
the Atlantic in a papyrus reed boat; 
and other examples of the mount- 
ing evidence. A few years ago, the 
author stated, affirmative conclu- 
sions based on such studies "would 
have had no chance of being taken 
seriously. . . ." But this past sum- 
mer, with Heyerdahl still on the 
high seas, Lear wrote in his paper 
that "evidence that they are true is 
circulating in the scientific com- 
munity. . . ." And his article sug- 
gests that he, along with many 
others of this community, has been 
much impressed by what has de- 
veloped. 

What does all this mean to Lat- 
ter-day Saints? The refreshing new 
evidence now coming in may well 
please them. For over one hun- 
dred years they have been pro- 
claiming such things but have not 
been "taken seriously," either by the 
world or by scholars. Now, appar- 
ently, it is about to become scien- 
tifically respectable to hold views 
of pre-Columbian crossings from 
the ancient East. While many of 
the findings that support such views 
probably have nothing to do with 
the particular peoples mentioned in 
the Book of Mormon, still Latter- 
day Saint beliefs about Jaredites, 
Lehites, and Mulekites coming to 
the New World now fit into a 
context of thought that is becom- 
ing acceptable to scholars for the 
first time in the twentieth century. 
The Prophet Joseph Smith would 
have been greatly interested in the 
recent turn of events and in scholar- 
ly responses thereto. 



Era, October 1970 15 




THE 



Instructor 

SEPTEMBER 1970 



By Lorin F. 
Wheelwright 

• "Let every page radiate the Spirit of Christ!" That 
has been our constant prayer in publishing the In- 
structor. Some of us view with sentimental attachment 
the passing of this old friend of the family. We rejoice 
in its long life and good deeds, and we feel confident 
its spirit will continue to be felt in the new publica- 
tions designed by its trustees. Those of us who have 
worked most intimately to expand its mission now 
pause a moment to share a few glimpses of its private 
life. Take my hand, as this magazine took mine many 
years ago. 

I first knew the Juvenile Instructor as a large book 
that my mother would let me explore when I was 
good. I remember how she read stories from its pages 
and showed to me its fascinating pictures. My fingers 
would trace the indented embossing of its cover. The 
fancy printing impressed me long before I could read. 
My mother sang the songs it brought to our home. Not 
until recently did I realize why one of them was her 
favorite. 




Lorin F. Wheelwright has been an associate editor of 
the Instructor since 1959. A member of the general 
board of the Sunday School, he is dean of the College 
of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young 
University. 



As I was thumbing through the bound volumes in 
our Sunday School library, the thought struck me: 
"What was the Instructor printing the month I was 
born?" Those would be the pages my mother read 
during the days when she first held me in her arms. 
You can imagine my emotion as I saw in print the 
simple, original version of 

"Oh, Hush thee, my baby, a story I'll tell, 

How little Lord Jesus on earth came to dwell." 1 

I looked for the composer. His name was Joseph 
Ballantyne, an old neighbor in Ogden and the hus- 
band of my first Sunday School teacher. This song 
warmed my mother's heart. She loved its sweet 
melody and gentle text. She sang it to me, and I have 
loved it ever since. 

This warm, personal feeling has glowed in the In- 
structor through the years and has reached out from 
mind to mind and heart to heart. It is this legacy of 
love that we have nurtured most tenderly while its 
life has been entrusted to our care. 

The Instructor was fathered by a man of God. George 
Q. Cannon emigrated from England and leaped onto 
the dock at Nauvoo when he was a boy of 15, filled 
with curiosity to meet the Prophet Joseph Smith. He 
later wrote, "[I] would have known him among ten 



16 



The Instructor AVoice of Truth for 105 Years 

l866 - I97O 




thousand. There was that about him which to [my] 
eyes distinguished him from all the men [I] had ever 



seen. 



With this personal conviction, Brother Cannon be- 
came a powerful missionary of the Church. He was 
a member of Parley P. Pratt's company that entered the 
Salt Lake Valley in October 1847. Three years later 
he sailed to Hawaii as one of the first nine mission- 
aries to those islands. Through the gift of tongues he 
learned the native language and translated the Book 
of Mormon. He later became editor of the Deseret 
News and a member of the Council of the Twelve. 
He was called by John Taylor (along with Joseph F. 
Smith) to be his counselor in the First Presidency. 
He loved to write, and his book A Child's Story of 
the Prophet Joseph Smith is a classic. It appeared 
first as a biographical series of articles in the magazine. 

This man founded the Juvenile Instructor as a non- 
profit, private enterprise in 1865. In 1900 he recalled: 

"Upon my return, in 1864, I organized a Sunday 
School in the 14th Ward, and other schools were 
organized directly afterwards. As soon thereafter as I 
could I published a little work, which I named The 
Juvenile Instructor. The Juvenile Instructor has been 
one of the best labors that I have ever been engaged in, 
because I have felt that it was doing good to our 
children. . . ," 3 



At the turn of the century President Cannon sold his 
printing business to the Church, but not the Juvenile 
Instructor. This was bought by the general board of 
the Sunday School as its official organ. President 
Grant said of this transaction, "The Juvenile Instructor, 
so long and favorably known in the community, and 
so great a factor in the development of the Sunday 
School work of the Church, should be that organ."* 

In his last editorial as publisher of the magazine, 
George Q. Cannon wrote: 

"It has found a welcome place in the family circle. 
. . . My desire and hope is that it may continue to 
enjoy the favor and affection of its readers ... in 
supplying pure, sound, wholesome and instructive 
reading matter for the rising generation among the 
people of God." 3 

This publication began as a general magazine— a 
pioneering combination of Readers Digest, Popular 
Mechanics, and religious tract. It gradually evolved 
into "The Teacher's Magazine of the Church." 

For many years it carried lesson outlines and was 
published in small sizes. Under the leadership of 
Superintendent George R. Hill and his first assistant, 
David Lawrence McKay, it took its present size and 
broadened its appeal. When I was called as associate 
editor, we adopted a policy of riding two rails, both 
equally important: 



Era, October 1970 17 



1. The Instructor helps Sunday School teachers 
enrich specific lessons with articles, illustrations, and 
methods. 

2. The Instructor strengthens testimony and in- 
spires all readers to live the gospel. 

Readership studies have verified that about half of 
our subscribers do not hold Sunday School positions 
but continue their subscriptions because of the maga- 



"Gethsemane is ... a crisis 
that each of us can expect 
to experience sometime 
in his life" 



zine's inspirational value. The balance use it in specific 
teaching assignments. In recent years, footnotes have 
identified the lessons intended for enrichment. The 
writing style and format have been directed to the 
general reader. 

In this limited space, let me share a few personal 
experiences in creating the Instructor. Many articles 
stand alone, but some have appeared in series. "Ad- 
ventures of the Spirit" was a series born during an 
assignment from President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. He 
invited me one day to visit his study for the purpose of 
making his photographic portrait. With a maroon 
woolen blanket as a backdrop, President Clark sat 
patiently under the bright lights and discussed his 
life and interests. Photographer Ralph Clark and I 
posed him in various attitudes. I remember asking 
him, "What is your favorite passage from the Bible?" 

As he sank into deep thought, he leaned upon his 
cane and we captured a mood that thrilled us. It led 
me to ponder the significance of spiritual experiences. 
I did not intend to write an article at the time, but 
after thinking about our six-hour conversation with 
this grand patriarch, I wrote the first of a series on 
the spiritual adventures of our leaders. i; 

One of the finest series we ever undertook in the 
Instructor was entitled "I Believe." 7 It was designed to 
help students in special fields of scholarship under- 
stand that faithful Latter-day Saints can also be dis- 
tinguished scholars. Henry Eyring recruited authors, 
and David Lawrence McKay helped edit the series. 
Each article dealt with a specific problem of indi- 
vidual belief. There was room for some differences 
of opinion. One author said, "I submit this for publi- 



cation only if it is read and approved by a responsible 
General Authority." It was read to President David 
O. McKay, our editor, and he approved it for our 
purposes. We found it helped readers when we ex- 
plained our purpose for the series and particularly 
the care with which we verified authors and points 
of doctrine. 

One touching response to the first article in the 
series came from the daughter of an old school friend. 
She now was the mother of several children and was 
deeply concerned about her father's drifting from the 
Church. She said, "When I read your article on 
truth, N I prayed for you to call upon my father and 
give him a copy. He needs to know that there is a 
place for him in the Church." 

This is an unfinished story, but seeds have been 
planted for his rebirth. 

Another series came into being during a trip to the 
Holy Land, one year prior to the Six-Day War. Sister 
Wheelwright and I were returning from an assignment 
in New Zealand. We spent the most concentrated two 
weeks of our lives walking where Jesus walked. We 
rejoiced in discovering for ourselves the spiritual birth- 
place of Christianity. The musical echoes of each 
event that once transpired there spilled over into the 
pictures and writing of the series "Reverence for Holy 
Places." 9 The response was overwhelming. A land- 
lady at Columbia University, whom I had not seen for 
thirty years, wrote a letter filled with tears of joy, 
requesting three extra copies for two ministers and a 
friend. A nonmember with whom I sat on a board 
of directors said the articles and pictures inspired him 
to finance a special trip for his minister to the Holy 
Land. One of the General Authorities requested re- 
prints for his personal Christmas cards. 

The most rewarding response came from a fellow 
board member who spoke to me after reading the 
article on Gethsemane. He had been stricken far 
from home with acute kidney stones, and his physical 
condition prevented the use of anesthetics. He told 
me how he agonized during the operation and shared 
the Savior's cry, "If it be possible, let this cup pass 
from me." He expressed his appreciation for the arti- 
cle, which said, "Gethsemane is not a place but a 
crisis that each of us can expect to experience some- 
time in his life." 

Truman G. Madsen wrote a series for us on Eternal 
Man, 1 " which has helped college students to see the 
compatibility of truth with truth, regardless of origin. 
Reed H. Bradford has brought monthly to us his warm, 
intimate understanding of the spiritual bonds of love, 
human and divine. Wendell J. Ashton has inspired our 
readers with his back-page insights into gospel living 
today. Marie F. Felt has dramatized with flannel- 



18 



board stories events in the lives of religious heroes. 
President McKay, many General Authorities, the Sun- 
day School general superintcndency, general board 
members, and Saints everywhere have used these 
pages to tell how Sunday School is truly a school for 
life eternal. Reorganization of the general board by 
Superintendent David Lawrence McKay brought re- 
finement to the editorial policy and reinforced the 
high spiritual level of content. 

For a decade our managing editor was Boyd Hatch- 
paralyzed, in a wheelchair, yet buoyant in spirit and 
precise in details. With his help we streamlined our 
circulation program and helped Instructor-use direc- 
tors to work as a team. Since his passing, Sister Burl 
Shephard has mothered the editorial staff and tucked 
each issue to bed with promptness and loving care. 
Her consummate skill in organizing the many sugges- 
tions of our board has brought hundreds of new 
authors before the Church with experiences that in- 
form and inspire teachers. 

The dedication of our general board has given the 
Instructor its relevance to readers. All members of 
the board have met in small groups at the course 
levels of child (under General Superintendent Mc- 
Kay), youth (under First Assistant Lynn S. Richards), 
and adult (under Second Assistant Royden G. Derrick) 
to suggest enrichment features. This involvement has 
brought a harvest of ideas, authors, and favorable 
response. General Superintendents George R. Hill 
and David Lawrence McKay, under whom I have 
served, have guided our efforts. They have stead- 
fastly preserved our financial solvency, avoiding 
advertising as incompatible with our purpose, and 
have encouraged fresh ideas, beautiful color, reprints, 
and many innovations to extend our usefulness. 

I think of the Instructor as personifying the music 
entitled "On Wings of Song." It has taught conductors 
and organists and has introduced many of our beloved 
hymns to the Church for the first time. But it has 
done more— it has echoed in every issue that ever- 
lasting carol of the angels, "Peace on earth, goodwill 
toward men." 

It is this song of the Savior that has inspired editors 
and authors to share intimate spiritual experiences with 
readers. In response, we have received letters such as 
this one from a front-line post in Vietnam: "I am on 
the night watch. In moments of anxious waiting I 
read the Instructor. ... It helps me remember who 
I am, why I am here, and where I am going. It 
sustains me in this hour. Thank you." A father tells 
us, "You bring joy to our family circle." A teacher 
scribbles on the edge of her renewal card, "Thanks 
for boosting my morale and putting tools in my hands 
to build God's kingdom." To reach deeply into 



the lives of many people has been our blessing. 

The best way I can share this joy is to tell you about 
a missionary on Temple Square. Recently he hailed 
me as a long-lost friend and told me how he was send- 
ing copies of the Book of Mormon to hundreds of 
visitors. "And," he said, "I send a copy of that article 
by Aviva Levine, which appeared seven years ago in 
the Instructor." 11 

One day, while visiting my brother and his wife, I 
heard about a young mother they had helped to con- 
vert. She was a Jewish refugee from Hungary, where 
her father had been killed by the Nazis. Prior to his 
abduction to a concentration camp, he placed a 
book in her hand, with an embrace and a farewell kiss. 
It was an old Jewish prayerbook. On the flyleaf he 
had written, "Search for the Jehovah of the Old Testa- 
ment. Someday you will find him." She came to 
America and searched. Finally she did find him— in 
the pages of the Book of Mormon. 

It was a thrilling story. I invited her to tell it to 
all of our readers through the Instructor. She wrote it 
beautifully and with conviction. When the galley 
proofs reached her home, her husband intercepted 
them and, being a hostile nonmember, refused to 
allow his name, which she shared, to appear on the 
article. She was determined to tell her true story and 
suggested using a pen name, Aviva Levine. It is her 
story that is now reaching over the world with a special 
message to the House of Israel: Jehovah lives and 
loves his children. 

The Instructor has spread these good tidings for 
105 years. It was given birth to bear witness to Christ 
and leaves with the same message: Jesus needs our 
voice to speak for him; he needs our feet to walk his 
way; and he needs our hands to do his work. In that 
spirit we bid farewell to George Q. Cannon's "little 
work" and rejoice that it grew to wield a powerful 
influence for good. O 



FOOTNOTES 



Historical references are quoted from Lawrence R. Flake, The De- 
velopment of the Juvenile Instructor under George Q. Cannon and its 
Functions in Latter-day Saint Religious Education, Master's Thesis, 
Brigham Young University, 1969. 

1 The Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 44 (December 1909), p. 522. 

2 George Q. Cannon, "The 'Choice Seer,' " in his Life of Joseph Smith 
(Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1888), p. xxvi. 

3 Jubilee History of Latter-day Saints Sunday Schools (Salt Lake City: 
Deseret Sunday School Union, 1900), p. 533. 

4 Heber J. Grant, Conference Reports, April 7, 1901, p. 79. 

5 George Q. Cannon, "Editorial Thoughts," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 35 
(December 15, 1900), p. 822. 

November 1961— six features published variously through December 
1965. 

7 Series of 14 articles published variously from April 1965 through 
July 1967. 

8 "Life's Greatest Adventure Is the Pursuit of Truth," April 1965, 
p. 126. 

Series of eight color pictures and articles published variously from 
July 1966 through December 1967. 

10 Series of six articles published variously from March 1964 through 
July 1965. 

1 1 Aviva Levine, "Why I Became a Mormon," published in March 
1964, p. 125. 



Era, October 1970 19 



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Oct. 1970 Era 



Ella Mae didn't see the big truck. 





Pasili was afraid and very sad. 
Angel and his mother can smile now. 




The Primary Children's Hospital 
Takes a Big Step Forward 



• "The Primary Children's Hospital 
has long been a leader in the West. 
It is now destined to fill more of a 
worldwide role, extending its bless- 
ings to thousands of children every- 
where." 

The speaker is Bishop Robert L. 
Simpson of the Presiding Bishopric. 
As chairman of the board of trus- 
tees at the hospital, he is deeply 
committed to the continuing de- 
velopment of what he calls "this 
unique haven for children in need 
of medical services. 

"As our present goals and ob- 
jectives are made known," he says, 
"we are confident that many 
people, both members and non- 
members, will welcome the oppor- 
tunity to cooperate financially to 



By Bernell W. Berrett 

Editorial Associate 

make new and dramatic progress 
possible." 

Sister LaVern W. Parmley, gen- 
eral president of the Primary Asso- 
ciation and vice-chairman of the 
board, adds, "This hospital really 
does belong to thousands and 
thousands of people. It is a symbol 
of love, service, and faith to those 
who have helped to build and 
maintain it." 

In October 1969 the Primary 
Children's Hospital Endowment 
Committee was organized and 
charged with the responsibility of 
raising ten million dollars over the 
next ten years to pay for necessary 
expansion and improvement. Lewis 
M. Jones is chairman. The director 
of the committee is Thayer D. 



(Turk) Evans. His voice rings 
with enthusiasm and conviction as 
he speaks of this great dream as a 
reality : 

"Our plans are big, but they do 
not exceed the need," he says. "In 
1959, our total admissions num- 
bered slightly over 1,000. In 1969- 
just ten years later— we admitted 
nearly 8,000 children. In 1959, only 
588 patients were operated on at 
the hospital. Last year 5,783 opera- 
tions were performed here. People 
are usually surprised to learn that 
more than 250 doctors, representing 
most specialties, are now on the 
hospital's medical staff." 

The purpose of the endowment 
fund is to produce income on a 
perpetuating basis to augment 



22 



operating needs, provide financial 
assistance to patients beyond that 
provided by Primary pennies, ex- 
pand already existing services, 
establish significant new ones, and 
provide money to pay for special 
modern equipment and to finance 
building projects. 

Hospital administrator Kenneth 
C. Johnson explains some of the 
reasons for high operating costs. 
"Much of today's sophisticated 
hospital equipment becomes obso- 
lete almost as soon as it is installed. 
We are very careful about pur- 
chasing equipment, and we try to 
get optimum use out of it. But if 
newer equipment will give signifi- 
cantly better treatment and save 
lives, then it is imperative that we 
acquire it." 

The addition of one average hos- 
pital room costs $8,200. A projected 
open-heart surgery room would 
cost around $260,000. The cost of 
the new wing, dedicated in 1966, 
was over $2,000,000. 

Contrary to popular belief, the 
operating cost of the hospital is 
not subsidized by the Church. 

"The Primary pennies— and, be- 
lieve me, we're grateful for every 
one of them— pay only a small part 
of our operating budget," says 
Brother Evans. "And, of course, 
they do not go into the building 
fund. They are used only to help 
pay for the care of those in need. 
This hospital must pay its own way, 
and to the extent of our present 
services, it does. But many who 
need help have to be turned away." 

All children, regardless of race, 
religion, or national origin, are 
eligible for service. Although a 
majority of patients come from the 
intermountain area, last year young- 
sters from 27 states and many other 
countries were admitted. The gen- 
eral age range runs from infancy 
to 18 years. 

Hospital services are growing 
faster than facilities and personnel. 



One such important service is con- 
cerned with mental health. Dr. 
Paul L. Whitehead is over the 
psychiatric section, which last year 
chalked up over 20,000 outpatient 
visits involving some 500 families. 
Dr. Whitehead is young, person- 
able, and dedicated to his profes- 
sion. "There is no more rewarding 
or satisfying work," he says. 

"But we need more facilities. We 
now have one residential psychiat- 
ric home. We need six. Our in- 
patient need is urgent. We have 
to provide more service, not just 
for 'sick' kids, but for really sick' 
kids. 

"It is estimated that about twenty 
percent of today's children have 
some need of mental treatment. Of 
these we term about ten percent 
as serious and about one percent 
as severe. It is tragic for a need 
such as this to go unfulfilled, be- 
cause eighty-five percent of the 
youngsters we've treated have 
shown marked improvement and 
have been able to make happy and 
productive adjustments. 

"Let me give you just a few ex- 
amples," Dr. Whitehead continues. 
"A 14-year-old boy saw Christmas 
decorations being put up the day 
after Thanksgiving and was stricken 
with sudden blindness. Psychiatric 
examination revealed that the 
decorations had reminded him of 
his father, who had died a year or 
two before. Once assured that he 
would see again when he had re- 
solved to fully accept what had 
happened, the boy regained his 
sight as abruptly as he had lost it. 
He is now an Eagle Scout and an 
A student. 

"A very somber 12-year-old girl 
was referred to us because she had 
lost 45 pounds and was in a state 
of severe depression. She too was 
grieving the loss of her father and 
apparently wanted to die in order 
to be with him. Under our day- 
treatment program she had three 



months of psychotherapy, as a re- 
sult of which she regained her lost 
weight and was able to return to 
school. She continued treatment as 
an outpatient for nine more months 
and is now doing very well. 

"And we had a very angry nine- 
year-old boy who had been ex- 
cluded from school for defiant and 
injurious behavior. His discipline 
had been inconsistent, and much 
of his anger was directed toward 
his father and problems at home. 
After a year of day treatment, in- 
cluding psychotherapy for himself 
and counseling for his parents, he 
was referred back to his regular 
classes, where his school records 
show great improvement." 

Stories to warm the heart are 
without end at the hospital. Pic- 
ture Ella Mae, a shy two-year-old 
Navajo girl hit by a truck when 
she was just learning to walk. She 
was lonely and frightened when 
she first arrived; but the friendly 
doctors and staff members soon 
had her playing hide-and-seek with 
them, her muffled giggles giving 
her away as she stood full-height 
under her crib with the aid of 
crutches and braces. 

And there was Angel, a four-year- 
old boy from Chile whose short 
life held only weeks of promise 
without heart surgery. Complica- 
tions, including a hemorrhaging 
stomach ulcer, caused serious con- 
cern to the doctors and nurses 
responsible for his care. But today 
Angel laughs happily and sports 
one of the most engaging smiles 
found anywhere in the beautiful 
mountains of Chile. 

A desperate father in the Re- 
publique de Haute Volta in Africa 
wrote to President David O. Mc- 
Kay, "Mr. President, I beg you to 
listen to me. Hear the cries for 
help from a poor father." His small 
son, Didier, had suffered severe 
burns that left one arm adhered 
to his body so that the boy could 



Era, October 1970 23 




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not raise it. Through the cour- 
tesy of an overseas airline, Didier 
was flown to Salt Lake City. After 
plastic surgery and tender loving 
care, the boy was able to move his 
arm. His doctor penned the follow- 
ing note: 

"Didier has done quite well here 
and we have enjoyed him im- 




Didier could not use his arm. 

mensely. The entire staff have 
taken Didier into their hearts. He 
has attended our hospital school 
here and now speaks quite good 
English, and it is not without some 
regret that we release him to return 
to his native country." 

A letter from Africa arrived at 
the hospital shortly after. The 
father wrote, "Our Didier arrived 
the 27th of September, healthy and 
happy to see us waiting for him at 
the airport. On descending from 
the airplane, he raised his arm and 
waved his hand in the air to show 
us he has gained complete motion 
of his left arm. We couldn't be- 
lieve it! It was a miracle! Didier's 
mother cried, his little brothers and 
sisters jumped of joy once and 
again, his schoolmates cried 'Viva 
the Americans.' This is, indeed, 
a souvenir for us to keep deep in 
our hearts." 



26 



Space does not permit the inclu- 
sion here of hundreds of similar 
stories, but picture one last case. 
Pasili was a very unhappy little 
boy. After all, he was only three 
and a half years old, and he was 
all alone and far from his home 
in Tonga. He couldn't understand 
the nurses and they couldn't under- 
stand him. But the language of 
love crosses all barriers. Soon he 
was following the nurses around 
and responding to their friendship. 

Pasili suffered a gastrointestinal 
deformity that had caused a large 
cyst, swelling his abdomen to huge 
proportions. He was in surgery 
several hours, during which time 
the surgeons corrected the deformi- 
ties and removed the abnormal 
tissue. Today he is fully recovered. 

In Tonga, when the word got 
around that Pasili was coming 
back, almost the entire village went 
to the airport to resolve for them- 
selves a controversy that had been 
generated. Many insisted that 
Pasili would not be on the plane 
at all, that his return was all a cruel 
rumor. Some said that since he 
had been away only a" short time, 
he could not be well or much dif- 
ferent. Others believed that the 
American doctors could do any- 
thing. 

But Pasili stepped from the plane 
as happy and normal as any child 
there. Doubters and believers alike 
beamed, and his parents needed no 
words to supplement their tears of 
joy. 

Doctors, nurses, and staff mem- 
bers at Primary Children's Hospital 
have a spirit of service that extends 
far beyond required working hours 
or monetary pay. Many of them 
have adopted children as a result 
of the mutual love that so often 
develops there. Countless volun- 
teers serve in the tradition of a 
dentist who was once stopped by a 
stranger outside the hospital and 
asked, "How much do you get paid 
for all the time you spend in there?" 



The dentist raised his eyes to a 
window where several children, 
noses flattened against the glass, 
grinned and waved at him. "That's 
my pay," he said. "That's all the 
pay a man needs." 

Many private citizens, nonmem- 
bers as well as members of the 
Church, have learned the lesson 
illustrated above: that there is 
greater joy in giving than in re- 
ceiving. There are many ways to 
become one of the hospital's re- 
vered supporters. One successful 
businessman annually makes dona- 
tions to the hospital in the names 
of his friends. The owner of a ham- 
burger chain contributes a penny 
for each hamburger sold during one 
month of each year. As a memorial, 
some people endow a room or piece 
of equipment in the name of a 
loved one. Some make bequests to 
the hospital in their wills. Real 
estate or other property has been 
signed over to the hospital, and 
interest on stocks and investments 
has been donated. 

The hospital has come a long way 
since 1911, when the Primary Asso- 
ciation decided to provide a few 
beds for children in the LDS Hos- 
pital. The Convalescent Home on 
North Temple Street, opened in 
1922, served as the children's hospi- 
tal until the present facility was 
dedicated in 1952. A new wing was 
completed in 1966. 

Now, with the endowment pro- 
gram getting underway, the Primary 
Children's Hospital is destined to 
do more than care for limited num- 
bers of afflicted children. It is to 
become a great medical and educa- 
tional center whose influence will 
be felt around the world. O 

Persons having questions or de- 
siring to make contributions may 
write to the Primary Children's 
Hospital Endowment Commit- 
tee, 320 Twelfth Avenue, Salt 
Lake City, Utah 84103. The tele- 
phone number is 801-328-1611. 



Era, October 1970 27 




THE IRON HORSE-3-D's 

Folk songs of the pioneers as they 
crossed the plains. 

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• Seated before me were 15 visi- 
bly restless and apprehensive indi- 
viduals in wheelchairs. All had lost 
the use of their lower extremities, 
and about 50 percent had lost 
most of the use of their arms and 
hands. 

Such an assembly of wheel- 
chair cases was called by vocation- 
al rehabilitation personnel "the 
hard-core handicapped." A large- 
scale attempt to develop produc- 
tive places in society for them 
was considered a doubtful venture, 
even by experienced vocational 
workers, because it was reasoned 
that available time and money 
could be used more optimistically 
in the rehabilitation of persons 
with handicaps of much less sever- 
ity. Consequently, these individ- 
uals, and hundreds like them, 
faced nearly hopeless odds. 

I had worked for several years 
to persuade rehabilitation officials 
that there were still untried ways 
for preparing the severely handi- 
capped for successful careers. 
There had been so many dis- 
couragements that I would have 
given up trying long before except 
for a consuming desire to provide 
a productive life for my own se- 
verely handicapped son, Randy. 

Randy is the oldest of our eight 
children, and he was then 15 years 
of age. In most respects he is just 
like our other children, and very 
typical of the happy-go-lucky 
youngsters in your family or the 
family next door. Physically, how- 
ever, he is an exception in that he 
does not have the use of his legs, 
arms, or hands. Those who know 
him enjoy his personality, pleasant 
disposition, and eagerness for ac- 
tivity. These characteristics, to- 
gether with an easy smile, absorb- 
ing interest, and quick wit, seem 
to compensate somewhat for his 
serious handicaps. It has been 
somewhat painful to his mother 



Person to Person 

Rehabilitation 



By Allen R. Howell 




and me that he looks forward to 
the future with hope, anticipation, 
enthusiasm, and the same inde- 
pendence that his many physically 
normal friends expect to enjoy. We 
are grateful for the happy, con- 
tented days of his youth but have 
long recognized that his future 
happiness as an adult would 
be dependent upon our being able 
to develop a work program that 
would be effective for persons as 
severely handicapped as he is. 

After four years of working on 
new programs for the handi- 
capped, I was at last able to call 
a meeting of interested people who 
were lending their support to put 
the programs in action. Assembled 
with us in this meeting were four 
somewhat nervous state vocational 
rehabilitation officials. They had 
reason to be uneasy, since they 



were risking their professional 
reputations by sponsoring us in 
this new, unproven training pro- 
gram. 

Introductions were the first order 
of business, and then the proposed 
nine-month training program in 
insurance and investments was 
outlined to these prospective stu- 
dents. The program was complete- 
ly new and had been specifically 
designed to make participation 
convenient for them. 

Soon the meeting was turned into 
a get-acquainted session, and every 
individual was absorbed in hear- 
ing the variety of answers being 



Allen R. Howell, teachers quorum 
adviser in the Bluffdale (Utah) 
Ward, is president of Ability Agen- 
cies Institute, with national training 
headquarters located at Utah State 
University. 



Era, October 1970 29 



given to the question: "How did 
you happen to get stuck in that 
wheelchair?" 

One of the group, Mark, recalled 
for us a pleasant summer day 
when the sunlight sparkled bright- 
ly from the surface of a beach 
where a carefree group of boys, at 
the lake for an outing, tossed 
a tennis ball back and forth in a 
friendly game of "keep away." A 
wild throw sent the ball splashing 



into the water. Mark, the first to 
reach the lake, hit the water in an 
arching dive to retrieve the ball. 
The water was deceptively shal- 
low, and Mark's head unexpected- 
ly struck the hard-packed sand at 
the bottom, and the bones of his 
neck snapped. In this instant not 
only Mark's neck but also his 
plans for the future were broken. 
His plans must now be restricted 
to include only those things that 



The 
Spoken Word 



"The Spoken Word" from Temple 
Square, presented over KSL and the 
Columbia Broadcasting System 
August 9, 1970. ©1970. 



'This new morality" 

By Richard L. Evans 

% A / ith some satire but more of soberness one observer had this 

\ / \ / to say: "It looks like this new morality is about the same as the 
V Void immorality." 1 We hear both loose and thoughtful talk 
about what is and isn't moral. And some would no doubt go so far 
as to say that morality is a matter of personal opinion or personal 
preference. But obeying only laws or standards or commandments we 
agree with, and indulging in anything we want to, is obeying no law 
but our own. And going in that direction could lead to absolute law- 
lessness — and in absolute lawnessness we couldn't live at all. Doesn't 
the answer, after all, lie along these lines: Whatever diminishes life, 
whatever impairs the mental or spiritual or physical capacity of people, 
is basically wrong. Whatever contributes to ill health, to unhappiness, 
disease, loose or lawless living, or an unquiet conscience— whatever 
pulls people down to a lower level — isn't all such basically wrong, or 
even immoral? When we make life less, when we deliberately damage 
something precious that we can't replace, isn't there a moral side to 
all such? There are some things that are precious, priceless, irreplace- 
able, and if someone acquires such habits, or partakes of such things 
as to impair any part of his mental or physical or spiritual capacity, or 
to neglect or abuse himself, his loved ones, or his opportunities in life, 
isn't there a moral issue in it? Ignoring the experience of the past is a 
cause of much concern, because great civilizations have indulged and 
debauched themselves into decay and because there are eternal values 
and eternal truths— among them the sanctity of the home, of marriage, 
chastity, faithfulness, the integrity of family, and clean and honest con- 
duct. These are still basic to health, to happiness, to inner peace, and 
to the good and safety of society. And despite all rationalizing, when 
the so-called new morality is essentially the same as the old immorality, 
we may expect essentially the same consequences — as the past has so 
often proved. 



'Rotary Club bulletin of Graham, Texas (author unknown). 



can be done from a wheelchair, 
by a person with almost total 
paralysis. 

As Mark completed the details 
of his story, two other persons, Ty 
and Conrad, let Mark know how 
similar their accidents were to his. 
Each circumstance involved a 
friendly game of tag and a neck- 
breaking dive into unexpectedly 
shallow water. 

Two other clean-cut young men 
had been on missions when their 
troubles occurred. Howard was 
hurt when the chain of the bicycle 
he was riding across a busy high- 
way in Argentina broke and he was 
hit by an automobile. 

While on his mission to the 
eastern United States, Kim started 
losing the use of his legs. The doc- 
tor informed him that he had a 
tumor in his spinal column. It was 
only a short time later that he be- 
came confined to a wheelchair. 

The largest single cause of in- 
jury was automobile accidents. Be- 
sides Howard, we learned that Jim, 
Cheryl, Burke, David, and Rolland 
were victims of this type of acci- 
dent. 

Nelma, the only student who 
was not then in a wheelchair, had 
multiple sclerosis, which was slow- 
ly draining away her strength and 
equilibrium. 

The following morning the nine- 
month course was officially begun 
at a convalescent center where 
students could live in the facility 
with full nursing care, if needed. 
Physical therapy, meals, recrea- 
tion, and other services were readi- 
ly available. 

We were pleased to discover the 
enthusiasm and diligence with 
which the students approached 
their studies. As a result of their 
perseverance, a series of good 
things began to happen almost 
from the very beginning. The class 
set one of the highest average 
scores of any group that had ever 



30 



taken the state's insurance exam- 
ination. When the first class was 
graduated, another was begun al- 
most immediately. 

The editor of the American Jour- 
nal of Insurance visited us to do a 
feature story on the group. Since 
this magazine is the official voice 
of the Mutual Insurance Compan- 
ies, the article was distributed on 
a nationwide basis. The Journal of 
Insurance Information, the official 
voice of the Stock Insurance Com- 
panies, also published an article, 
and U. S. News and World Report, 
Time, and Reader's Digest fea- 
tured the class in articles. 

The Insurance Rehabilitation 
Study Group in New York request- 
ed material to be presented in 
Washington, D. C. T at a meeting 
of the President's Committee on 
Employment of the Handicapped. 
The committee liked the program 
and distributed information on a 
nationwide basis, and the Com- 
missioner of Rehabilitation in 
Washington, D.C., circularized it 
to rehabilitation agencies of all 50 
states. 

One of the students was cited 
by the governor for outstanding 
rehabilitation achievements and 
shortly afterwards, the same stu- 
dent was flown to Washington to 
receive honors as the nation's out- 
standing rehabilitant of the year. 

This recognition, citing the suc- 
cess of transforming many handi- 
capped persons from welfare re- 
cipients to productive citizens, has 
been somewhat overwhelming for 
my wife, Joy, and me, but there is 
more involved here than quickly 
meets the eye. While the success 
stories are being published and 
glorified, we are tormented by the 
fate of other students whom we 
trained just as completely and 
loved just as dearly, but who have 
not yet achieved this final success, 
which involved the securing of a 
position of productivity and stature 



Era, October 1970 31 




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4. Make a Treat with Wheat - Hazel Richards 

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6. Great Leaders of the Book of Mormon ■ Paul Cheesman. 4-color portraits. 

7. He Walked the Americas • L. Taylor Hansen 

8. Fascinating Womanhood - Helen Andelin 

9. Beginnings - Carol Lynn Pearson (Feminine Poetry) 

10. The Search - Carol Lynn Pearson (Poetry) 

11. Star Counter - Dennis Smith (Masculine Poetry) 

12. Lord of Experience - Clinton Larson (Poetry) 

13. ' Mormonism & the Negro • John J. Stewart 

14. Eternal Gift ■ John J. Stewart 

15. Handy Book for Genealogists ■ George Everton 

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17. Genealogical Atlas of the U.S. ■ George Everton 

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in the community. A handicapping 
circumstance that isolates a per- 
son from a productive life also 
drops him in some people's eyes 
to a second-rate status in the com- 
munity. A first-rate community 
image can be obtained through 
work and self-respect. Pity and 
overprotectiveness by the commu- 
nity greatly hinder the achieving of 
this objective. 

The priceless breath of life that 



transforms the rehabilitation con- 
cept from mere idealism into val- 
uable human action is as much a 
person-to-person thing as is mouth- 
to-mouth resuscitation, and in a 
sense both achieve the same ob- 
jective. They cause an incapaci- 
tated person to live usefully again. 
In the classroom and in coun- 
seling settings, training agencies 
can help a person who is handi- 
capped to acquire new vocational 



The 
Spoken Word 


"The Spoken Word" from Temple 
Square, presented over KSL and 
the Columbia Broadcasting System 
July 19, 1970. ©1970. 



"Endure ... for days of happiness" 

By Richard L. Evans 

There is a short sentence from Vergil that says: "Endure, and keep 
yourselves for days of happiness." 1 There are times when we feel 
that we can't endure — that we can't face what's ahead of us; 
that we can't live with the disappointments, the problems; that we 
can't carry the heavy load. But these times come and go, as our 
strength and courage and circumstances run in cycles — from high to 
low to high — and in the low times we have to endure; we have to 
hold on until the shadows brighten, until the load lifts. "No one could 
endure adversity," said Seneca, "if, while it continued, it kept the 
same violence that its first blows had. . . ." 2 People often issue ultima- 
tums. They say they can't or won't stand this or that— not another min- 
ute. "I'm leaving it all. I want out." Such times could be likened to a 
circuit breaker or a fuse that blows when overloaded. We do wonder if 
we can take it at times, but there are built-in safety factors, and we 
find that the human soul — the spirit, the body, the mind of man — are 
resilient. There is more built-in strength in all of us than we sometimes 
suppose. And what once we said we couldn't do or couldn't live with 
or couldn't carry, we find ourselves somehow doing and enduring, as 
time, reappraisal, readjustment, and sometimes sheer necessity modify 
our sense of values and our attitudes, and we find strength and en- 
durance and hidden resources within ourselves. "Life is real! Life 
is earnest!" 3 as the poet put it, and facing facts, adjusting to life isn't 
always easy. But before we give up, we should most seriously consider 
what we are giving up, and what we are going to. "The frying pan to 
the fire" is an old phrase that has much meaning. Well, thus endeth 
the lesson — to pause, to reappraise, to take time for hope, for faith, 
and for strength to return, remembering, as Solon said it: "If all men 
were to bring their miseries together in one place, most would be glad 
to take . . . home again . . . each his own." 4 "Endure, and keep your- 
selves for days of happiness." 



'Vergil, Aeneid, Bk. i. 

2 Seneca, Moral Essays: On Tranquility of Mind. 
3 Longfellow, A Psalm of Life, stanza 2. 
♦Solon (638-558 B.C.), Athenian lawgiver. 



skills that fit his remaining abili- 
ties. They can also help restore his 
confidence and self-image; but one 
day, when maximum physical and 
vocational restorations have been 
achieved, the handicapped indi- 
vidual must return to his family, 
friends, and neighbors. If they 
thoughtlessly reject his services 
and choose to pity him, two very 
undesirable things occur: He 
quickly comes to know the frus- 
trating existence of capability with- 
out opportunity, with its disap- 
pointments, heartbreak, and waste 
of human life; and a dollar loss is 
involved in the form of higher 
taxes and additional welfare costs. 

The National Citizens Advisory 
Committee on Vocational Rehabili- 
tation has expressed the overall 
situation in this statement: "We are 
a human nation and we are a na- 
tion of businessmen: yet we vio- 
late the principles of humanity 
and business when we continue to 
permit ever increasing numbers of 
Americans to languish in the sha- 
dow of a serious handicap which 
could be mastered. Both the con- 
science and the purse suffer when 
men and women who could be self- 
reliant and productive are con- 
signed to futility and dependency." 

For Joy and me it was a parttcu- 
ly momentous day when Randy, 
at 18 years, entered the school 
that he and his handicapped con- 
dition inspired. After he is grad- 
uated, he will have the training 
with which many have been able 
to achieve vocational success. 
When he offers his vocational tal- 
ents and skills to his community, 
he will be hoping for a future life 
of service, income, independence, 
and self-respect. Will Randy be- 
one of the successful ones? Our 
prayers will be with him, but his 
final vocational future, as with all 
handicapped persons, is in the 
hands of his fellow community 
members. o 



32 




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for the 

Hills. 



Your own hills! 

Tucked securely, peacefully into the 
majesty of Utah's Wasatch range is your 
own tomorrowland — today. Breathtaking 
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below in the valley, all-but-forgotten 
Wallsburg, early Mormon pioneer village. 
It's all there. Waiting for you to enjoy. 
An investment in the future. An invest- 
ment in tingling mountain air. Cool 
forests. Clear streams. Untracked crystal 
snow. 

Heritage Hills is undisturbed, uninter- 
rupted. Yet only minutes from Provo and 
Brigham Young University, an easy 
drive to Salt Lake. 

Prices? Still uninflated. Generous terms. 
$600 per acre and up; 20 acre parcels 
available. 

Write or call for free tour or colorful 
brochure of historic Wallsburg and 
Heritage Hills (no obligation, of course), 
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(801) 355-4263; Provo (801) 373-6650. 

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Post Office Box 603. 
Provo, Utah 84601 - Telephone (801) 373-6650 




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The LDS Scene 




Ogden Temple Cornerstone Is Laid 

President Joseph Fielding Smith presided at the 

recent laying of the cornerstone for the new Ogden Temple. 

An estimated 6,000 northern-Utah Saints were 

in attendance. The all-concrete structure will be 

completed by fall of 1971. 




All-Church Softball Champions 

Another season of all-Church softball is over, 

and with the settling of the dust the following champions 

emerged victorious in all-Church softball tournament 

play in Salt Lake City: Bountiful (Utah) Thirtieth 

Ward, senior fast pitch; Whittier (California) Ward, junior fast 

pitch; Marietta (Georgia) Ward, senior slow pitch; 

Merced (California) Second Ward, junior slow pitch. 



34 




Mexico Mission Lamanite Youth Conference Held 

The beautiful city of Guadalajara, Mexico, was the 
scene of a four-day conference attended by some 250 
Latter-day Saint Lamanite youth. Competition in 
sports events, a dance, and a testimony meeting were 
highlights of the conference. 




All-Church Golf Tournament 

Winners in the annual all-Church golf tournament, 

held this year at the Alpine Country Club 

in Utah County and at the Wasatch State Park near 

Heber, Utah, were Henry Kershaw of the 

Phoenix (Arizona) 18th Ward in the veterans' divison, 

Tom Jensen of the Fremont (California) Second Ward in the 

senior division, and John Fought of the Gabriel Park 

(Oregon) Ward in the junior division. Latter-day 

Saint golfer Billy Casper conducted exhibitions that 

drew hundreds of sports fans. 




"The Spoken Word" from 
Temple Square, presented 
over KSL and the Colum- 
bia Broadcasting System 
une 14, 1970. ©1970. 



It isn't fair to expect perfection 

By Richard L. Evans 

\ A / e nve m a world of imperfection, and 

\/\ /certainly there are no perfect people. And 
V Vone of the surest ways to break up a home, 
to break up a marriage, to break up a friendship, a 
business, or any relationship in life, is to overempha- 
size faultfinding. People in love overlook faults. In 
disillusionment they overemphasize faults. "Faults 
are thick," said James Howell, "where love is thin."' 
It isn't fair to expect perfection in other people when 
we can't give it ourselves. It is fair, however, to expect 
improvement, to expect repentance. It isn't good 
enough to be just as good today as we were yester- 
day. Life is for learning. We ought to know more, to 
improve in our performance and be better each 
day. But in the meantime, one of the lessons of life 
is learning what to overlook— and when. There is 
a time for all things. There is a time when people 
can be corrected in kindness, and there are times of 
heat or anger or embarrassment when correction 
reacts the wrong way. And trying to ridicule people 
into improving their performance also often reacts 
the wrong way. Sarcasm is a sharp tool, but often 
cuts too deeply and leaves scars that are hard to heal. 
"The real art of conversation is not only to say the 
right thing in the right place," said a thoughtful ob- 
server, "but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the 
tempting moment." 2 We shouldn't reconcile our- 
selves to letting all imperfections persist, all faults 
go uncorrected. But we need to choose the time, the 
place, the manner, and the method in focusing on 
faults, remembering always that it is unreasonable to 
expect perfection of others when we cannot give it 
ourselves. In marriage, in the home, at work, in public 
life, and in all relationships, one fact we must keep 
uppermost in mind is that we are all of us imperfect 
people. 

"Should you feel inclined to censure 
Faults you may in others view, 

Ask your own heart, ere you venture, 
If that has not failings, too." 3 



'lames Howell, Proverbs: 8rit.-Eng., p. 2. 
2 Dorothy Nevill, British novelist. 
i Hymns, No. 1 59. 



Era, October 1970 35 




The Problem 
of Evil 

By William E. Berrett 

Illustrated by Phyllis Luch 

• A few months ago I sat at the 
bedside of one of my closest friends, 
who was dying of cancer. His suf- 
fering was intense, and I deeply 
grieved for him. Since then, he has 
passed away. 

I was reminded on that occasion 
of an incident told by Dr. Joseph 
Sizoo. He stood at the bedside of 
a little infant girl who was suffer- 
ing so intensely that her parents 
were frantic. Doctor Sizoo relates, 
"I suggested to the mother and 
father that we pray, asking God to 



give wisdom to the surgeon, and 
that we commend their only child 
to the keeping of a God whose 
ways, though past finding out, are 
ways of love. Then the mother 
turned to me sharply and said, 'You 
can't pray here to your God who 
lets a little child like this suffer. I 
wouldn't treat a dog that way.' ' 
(Make Life Worth Living, p. 112.) 
Daily parents receive messages 
from the Defense Department of 
the United States that begin, "We 
regret to inform you," and a whole 
family is stricken because a boy 
has been killed on the field of 
battle. Many calamities of nature 



sweep over the earth. It has only 
been a few months since an earth- 
quake struck and snuffed out lives. 
And recently two submarines, each 
carrying a crew of some 40 to 60 
men, sank to the bottom of the 
Mediterranean. 

There is much suffering and 
much evil in the world, and many 
people ask, "Where is God, that he 
permits wars to go on, that he 
allows people to lie at death's door 
with disease, that he would permit 
a student in a big southern uni- 
versity to take a couple of rifles and 
get up on a high tower and shoot 
down the students as they pass 
from one building to the other? Is 
there a God? If there is, does he 
care? Is he powerless to do any- 
thing about it?" These are the 
questions that sooner or later many 
ask themselves in this life. Much 
depends upon the answers. I be- 
lieve that members of The Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 
have an answer. 

One of the difficulties many 
people have in understanding the 



Dr. William E. Berrett, administrator of seminaries and institutes of religion 
for the Church, has devoted much of his life and law training to the promo- 
tion of religious education. He is the author of numerous books and articles 
on the history and doctrines of the Church. 



36 




deny him the power to bring into 
effect new organizations of worlds 
and of galaxies, new kingdoms in 
which individuals achieve immor- 
tality with all the glory that accom- 
panies such kingdoms. And when 
we talk about him being ever pres- 



ago in Hawaii. Lightning some- 
times strikes men working in fields. 
Snowstorms sometimes maroon 
people in their homes and automo- 
biles and may freeze them to death 
if they are not properly clothed and 
sheltered to withstand the cold. 



problem of evil lies in their mis- 
understanding of the nature of God 
and his relationship to man. They 
use terms indicating that he is 
omnipotent, that he can do any- 
thing; that he is omniscient, that 
he knows everything; that he is 
omnipresent, that he is everywhere. 
These are terms that Christians over 
the years have used to describe 
God. But as one of our great 
writers, the late President B. H. 
Roberts, pointed out some years 
ago, God is not all powerful in a 
sense that he could have a valley 
without a hill. Or, as one mission- 
ary said, "He cannot make a ten- 
year-old colt in a minute." God 
works in accordance to laws. He 
cannot make individuals great with- 
out their help. He doesn't have 
that power. That power lies within 
the individual. If in a matter of 
moments he could pour into our 
lives all the learning of all the ages, 
how simple learning would be, but, 
perhaps, how useless it would be. 
God works within the framework of 
laws. 

We would not deny our Heavenly 
Father progress. We would not 



ent, in our understanding we mean Diseases sometimes rack people's 
only in spirit, only in influence is he bodies, leaving them in pain or 
ever present; not in person, for in crippled for life. 



person he is confined to space and 
time with the accompanying limita- 
tions. And as we come to under- 
stand God and the laws by which 
he operates, we also come to under- 
stand that he is not responsible for 
evil. 

There are two fundamental kinds 
of evil in the world that bring pain 
and suffering to mankind. One 
kind arises from man's relationship 
to natural law. Through the work- 
ing of natural law, an earthquake 
may occur in mid-ocean and tidal 
waves for thousands of miles will 
strike against the shores of distant 
lands, bringing death and destruc- 
This happened some years 



These natural occurrences are 
sometimes termed evils, yet from 
our experience with these natural 
laws, we learn great lessons. When 
the boll weavil struck the U.S. cot- 
ton crops, it looked for a time as 
if the cotton industry were at an 
end in America. But the very evil 
itself caused men in universities 
and laboratories to devise means to 






* m 

■ 



m * 



:. » 



»«. i» ' 



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i * 



« ** •»„ 



4£& 





4& 

% fjft have the world other than it is? If 
»V£V you were to fashion a world, and 
that is a possibility within our 
philosophy, what kind of world 
would it be? Would you create a 
planet on which people would 
dwell that was not governed by 
law? Remember, that which is not 
governed by law is not dependable, 
combat the boll weavil, with the If the sun rose one day and then 
result that cotton now flourishes forgot to come up for a month or 

so, if two and two did not always 
make four, what kind of world 
would it be? 

Progress is possible only in a 
world of law— a world of law so de- 
pendable that scientists can predict 
the eclipse of a star or how long it 
will take a rocket to travel to the 
All of the progress of the 



even more than it did before. The 
tidal waves that struck Hawaii 
caused men to organize means to 
give warnings hours before such 
tidal waves could strike, and the 
last tidal wave that struck Hawaii 
took not a single life. 

Thus we learn great lessons with- 
out which progress would be 



lm- moon 



possible. I grant that the experience human race is possible because this 



learned from the forces of nature 
is not of much value in this life if 
the person is killed by those forces. 
But if this life were the only life we 
were to live, there would be no 
answer to the problem of evil. 

Another type of evil that we find 
is the evil that comes from human 
beings in their treatment of other 
human beings. In the story of 



is a world of law. If you were God, 
would you interfere with it? Would 
you stop the wind from blowing 
because it might inconvenience 
some? Would you have the rain 
quit just because you wanted to go 
on a picnic? Sometimes we would 
like God to interfere with the 
weather or the forces of nature 
about us, but if he were continually 



Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe, altering the forces of nature, he 

Crusoe didn't know the word fear 

on his little island until he found 

the footprints of a man. Much of 

the fear, much of the pain, much 

of the sorrow of today comes from 



.might destroy the very purpose of 
our existence. 

God himself has indicated that 
if he does not work in accordance 
to the laws, he is not God. The 



the cruelty of man. But would you Book of Mormon prophets taught 



the law of opposites, that you could 
not know the sweet if you did not 
taste the bitter, you could not ap- 
preciate that which is good if you 
did not see evil, you could not 
know the joy of good health if you 
did not know the pain of sickness, 
and you could not know the joys of 
eternal life if you did not know the 
pain of death. God in his good- 
ness and wisdom has brought us 
into a world where we may learn. 

It's amazing how many people 
throughout the world have come to 
think of calamities as reflecting the 
will of God. There are even those 
who suppose that it is God's will 
that there arc wars in the world. 
Nothing could be further from the 
truth. The heavens must weep over 
man's inhumanity to man. The 
Savior, when he was upon the earth 
in the flesh, taught us these things 
clearly. 

In the parable of the wheat and 
the tares, he told how the servants 
of the owner of the vineyard went 
out and sowed wheat in the fields. 
When the wheat came up, weeds 
or tares grew up among it, and the 
servant said to the master, "Wilt 
thou then that we go out and gather 
them up?" The master said, "Nay; 
lest while ye gather up the tares, ye 
root up also the wheat with them. 
Let both grow together until the 
harvest: and in the time of harvest 
I will say to the reapers, Gather ye 
together first the tares, and bind 
them in bundles to burn them: but 
gather the wheat into my barn." 
(Matt. 13:28-30.) No, the person 
struck by lightning in the field was 
not so struck because God was de- 
stroying someone who was wicked. 



38 



It was not God's will that the man 
be struck by lightning, God does 
not immediately strike down the 
wicked, but he allows the wicked 
and the righteous to live together. 
He allows the rain to fall on the 
just and the unjust, that there might 
be righteous judgment on the day 
of harvest. 

On one occasion questioners re- 
lated to Jesus how 18 men were 
eating their lunch beneath the walls 
of the tower of Salom when the 
tower fell and crushed them. Their 
question was, in effect, "Were 
these more wicked than the other 
people of the city?" And Jesus said, 
"I tell you, Nay: but, except ye 
repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 
(Luke 13:5.) And they came to 
him on another occasion and said 
men were meeting on the outskirts 
of the temple and that Roman 
soldiers, thinking they were foment- 
ing a rebellion, fell upon them and 
slew them. And Jesus said, "Sup- 
pose ye that these Galilaeans were 
sinners above all the Galilaeans, 
because they suffered such things? 
I tell you, Nay. . . ." (Luke 13:2-3.) 

During World War II, there 
were some in Zion who promised 
our boys as they marched away to 
war that if they would keep the 
commandments of God, they would 
not be destroyed and would safely 
return to their homes. The First 
Presidency of the Church, in a 
special meeting held in the assem- 
bly room of the Salt Lake Temple, 
gave an important message bearing 
upon this problem. President David 
O. McKay, counselor in the First 
Presidency, read the message to the 
Church, in which the First Presi- 
dency made it clear that in the 
case of war, it is not only the 
wicked who are killed; the righteous 
as well as the wicked may stand in 
the way of the shrapnel or the 
bullet and may thus be killed. We 
must not judge that those who are 
slain on the fields of battle are only 



those who have broken the com- 
mandments of God. 

We ought to read again and 
again Chapter 60 of Alma, wherein 
a letter is written by a great gen- 
eral of this continent, the first 
Moroni, to Governor Pahoran. In 
answer to a letter he had received 
in which the people had supposed 
certain things that were not true, 
Moroni said, "Do ye suppose that, 



because so many of your brethren 
have been killed it is because of 
their wickedness? I say unto you, if 
ye have supposed this ye have sup- 
posed in vain; for I say unto you, 
there are many who have fallen by 
the sword; and behold it is to your 
condemnation; 

"For the Lord suffereth the 
righteous to be slain that his justice 
and judgment may come upon the 



The 
Spoken Word 



"The Spoken Word" from Tem- 
ple Square, presented over KSL 
and the Columbia Broadcasting 
System, July 5, 1970. ©1970. 



Those who keep things going 

By Richard L. Evans 

A letter from a friend has turned our thoughts to a citation from a 
/-\ current source: "To me there is an aura of grandeur about the 
/ V dull routine of maintenance. ... It is easier to build than to 
maintain. Even a lethargic or debilitated population can be galvanized 
for awhile to achieve something impressive, but the energy that goes 
into maintenance of things in good repair day in and day out is the 
energy of true vigor." 1 Applying this to "our present problems," the 
letter continues, "it is easier to win our freedom, build a nation and 
subdue a continent, than it is now to maintain that freedom, and live 
peaceably with ourselves. ... It is easier to win the hand of a lovely 
girl than to do the less glamorous task of keeping [that lovely relation- 
ship alive]." 2 It may be easier to jump into a new marriage than to 
keep an old one sweet and sacred, as evidenced by increasing divorce. 
"It is easier to win new converts to a cause than it is to keep them in 
continued service. . . ." 2 It may be easier to begin new projects than to 
finish good ones already begun. And certainly it is easier to criticize 
and destroy than to cherish and preserve. Criticism is always easier 
than creation or preservation. Suddenly turning to something that 
seems new or suddenly tossing away something we have tired of may 
seem much easier— when maintaining and preserving require patience, 
discipline, duty. But there is a quiet kind of heroism in those who keep 
things going, who keep contracts, who keep commitments, who provide 
employment; who rear and teach and care for children; who maintain 
the sanctity of home and marriage; who live and uphold the law, and 
who contribute to the freedom, peace, and protection of community and 
country and to the preservation of all that is most precious. Rushing 
into what is new is sometimes exciting. But preserving what is good 
is an absolute essential— and he who keeps good things going is an 
often unheralded hero that we are deeply indebted to. 



'Eric Hoffer, "The Temper of Our Times." 
2 Based on a letter from Clifton C. M. Kerr. 



Era, October 1970 39 



wicked. . . ." (Al. 60:12-13.) Here 
was a prophet and a general 
who was also a realist. He knew 
what was happening. But then 
he notes an important fact: ". . . ye 
need not suppose that the righteous 
are lost because they are slain; but 
behold, they do enter into the rest 
of the Lord their God." ( Al. 60:13. ) 

I have come to pity those in this 
world who do not know that they 
will live again. How despair must 
ride their hearts when a loved one 
dies! What a joy is our understand- 
ing that the righteous who die in 
this world of evil are received up 
in glory. We weep for those who 
have no hope of glory. 

Would any of us have God take 
away the laws that cause bullets 
to be propelled or tidal waves to be 
formed? A world without fixed 
laws would become meaningless. 
Or would we take away the free 
agency of the individual? Would 
we have God prevent men from 
making war on one another? 

Satan's plan would have pre- 
vented man from doing evil, but his 
plan permitted no personal growth. 
God determined not to take away 
man's free agency. But society may 
take it away. We don't allow one 
another freedom to do anything we 
please— we have laws that circum- 
scribe our actions. But the Lord 
allows us to do as we please; he 
will not stop us if we have a heart 
that impels us to evil. I suppose 
that the time when God must have 

been most tempted to interfere 
with man's free agency was when 
his Son was nailed to a cross and 
in agony cried out, "My God, my 
God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 
But even then God withheld the 
exercise of his power, for if God 
were to interfere every time man 
was about to do evil, God would be 
responsible for the acts of all men, 
and there could be no judgment. 

In the Book of Mormon we find 
an account that is relevant to this 



matter of judgment. The prophet 
Alma, with Amulek, his missionary 
companion, converted a number of 
people in a certain area. But the 
great majority of the people who 
had not been converted seized the 
converts, tied them to stakes, put 
brush around them, and set fire to 
the brush. They bound Alma and 
Amulek and brought them forward 
to witness the burning of the con- 
verts. Amulek cried out to Alma, 
"How can we witness this awful 
scene? Therefore let us stretch 
forth our hands, and exercise the 
power of God which is in us, and 
save them from the flames. 

"But Alma said unto him: The 
Spirit constraineth me that I must 
not stretch forth mine hand. . . ." 

Alma didn't doubt the power of 
God to free him or the converts. He 
said, ". . . the Lord receiveth them 
up unto himself, in glory; and he 
doth suffer that they may do this 
thing, or that the people may do 
this thing unto them, according to 
the hardness of their hearts, that 
the judgments which he shall exer- 
cise upon them in his wrath may be 
just; and the blood of the innocent 
shall stand as a witness against 
them, yea, and cry mightily against 
them at the last day." (Al. 14:10- 
11.) 

How can you render judgment 
on a man if you constantly inter- 
fere with his actions? There would 
not be a day of justice at judgment. 
Perhaps we need to review the 
events and catch, the spirit of the 
121st and 122nd sections of the 
Doctrine and Covenants. The 
Prophet Joseph and others were in 
prison in Liberty Jail, Missouri, 
confined in a room about 14 by 15 
feet. 

On each side there was only 
one slit of a window about two 
inches wide. It was cold, and there 
was never a fire. They could not 
sleep at night, but kept moving 
about to keep from freezing to 



death. They could get a little sleep 
in the middle of the day when two 
or three ragged blankets were 
thrown in to them. They ate filthy 
food. But worse than anything else, 
they heard tales from the guards 
about the plundering of their 
homes, destroying of their cattle, 
ravaging of their wives. Finally 
Joseph Smith cried out, "O, God, 
where art thou? And where is the 
pavilion that covereth thy hiding 
place? How long shall thy hand 
be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy 
pure eye, behold from the eternal 
heavens the wrongs of thy people. 
. . ." (D&C 121:1-2.) 

Sometimes in our agony of spirit 
we feel like crying out to God, "O, 
God, where art thou? Must we en- 
dure these sufferings?" The Prophet 
received the answer of the Lord: 
"My son, peace be unto thy soul; 
thine adversity and thine afflic- 
tions shall be but a small mo- 
ment. . . . Thou art not yet as 
Job; thy friends do not contend 
against thee " (D&C 121:7, 10.) 

Then the Lord reminded Joseph 
that "the Son of man hath de- 
scended below them all. Art thou 
greater than he?" (D&C 122:8.) 

". . . Know then, my son, that all 
these things shall give thee experi- 
ence, and shall be for thy good." 
(D&C 122:7.) In this message we 
find a remarkable philosophy. From 
that day on, the Prophet Joseph 
never complained again. Yes, there 
is much misery in the world. But 
even as Paul the apostle, we need 
to say, "If it were not for our hope 
in Christ we would be of all men 
most miserable." (See 1 Cor. 
15:19.) 

The gospel provides us with a 
philosophy that enables us to meet 
all that life can bring, both good 
and evil, with an assurance that all 
these things will give us experience 
that will be for our good. What a 
blessed philosophy— what wonder- 
ful truth! O 



40 




The Era 
ofYouth 



Featuring 



The LDSSA Conference 



The Laurelife Conference 







■■■ : ^ ■ :.- 






Linda Stap/ey from Arizona 
was official chorister for gen- 
eral assemblies. 



President Harold B. Lee addressed delegates in a special 
meeting, counseling leaders with their responsibilities of 
example on campuses the world over. 



Elder Richard L. Evans gives the keynote address in Pardoe 
Theater at Brigham Young University, convention site. 




42 



Executive officers of LDSSA stand with Pur- 
suit of Excellence Award winners: top, left to 
right, Dr. Frank Bradshaw, Elaine A. Cannon, 
Dr. J. Marvin Higbee, Bishop Sterling Work- 
man; front, Dr. Homer R. Warner, Elder 
Marion D. Hanks, Dr. Alexander Schreiner. 




The 

LDSSA 

Confer 
ence 



By David 
Bly 



• England, Germany, Canada, 
Hawaii, and continental United 
States from Boston to California 
were represented in the four-day 
conference of the Student Asso- 
ciation of The Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-day Saints. The 
conference was held on the Brig- 
ham Young University campus, 
under the direction of Elder 
Marion D. Hanks, Assistant to 
the Council of the Twelve and 
managing director of the asso- 
ciation. 

The theme of the event was 
read during the opening session 



by Richard Boyer, Student Asso- 
ciation president at the Univer- 
sity of Utah: "I pray not that 
thou shouldest take them out of 
the world, but that thou should- 
est keep them from the evil." 
(John 17:15.) 

In response to the theme, 
Elder Hanks counseled the 500 
college and university student 
delegates to "be not conformed 
to this world: but be ye trans- 
formed by the renewing, of your 
mind, that ye may prove what 
is that good, and acceptable, and 
perfect, will of God." (Rom. 
12 :2.) And from this point for- 
ward the conference delegates 
met in discussion groups, chatted 
over lunch, and listened to wise, 
spiritual public and Church 
leaders on matters relevant to 
being in the world but not of it." 

Delegates were largely upper 
classmen and graduate students 
from noted institutions of higher 
learning and from junior col- 
leges and some trade and techni- 
cal schools. Holding their annual 
conventions in conjunction with 
the conference were Lambda 
Delta Sigma and Sigma Gamma 
Chi, collegiate sorority and fra- 
ternity sponsored by the Church. 

During the conference new 
officers of the groups were an- 
nounced and sustained. Called 
by the First Presidency to lead 
Sigma Gamma Chi was John 
Preston Creer, with Bruce 
Bowen, Louis Callister, Jr., 
Frank Day, Rolfe Kerr, and 
Ryck Luthi as assisting officers. 
Sterling Workman is executive 
secretary. 

Nedra M. Warner is president 
of Lambda Delta Sigma, assisted 
by Diane Dunford, Barbara 



Winder, Ruth Eichers, and 
Marie Mills. Elaine Cannon is 
international adviser. The group 
is on 70 campuses, with nearly 
4,000 girls having been initiated 
in the past three years. 

The Student Association's or- 
ganizational structure provides 
for a stake president to be named 
priesthood leader by the First 
Presidency for a certain region, 
area, or campus. He in turn will 
call a student president, two 
vice-presidents., and a secretary 
to serve as leaders of the student 
council of the Student Associa- 
tion. Representatives from the 
various agencies of the Church 
relating to college-age students 
will sit on the council. 

Workings of this structure 
were considered in depth. An in- 
teresting exchange period was 
conducted with members of 
the Church's Youth Correlation 
Committee. Elder Hanks fielded 
the student comments submitted 
to W. Jay Eldredge, general 
superintendent of YMMIA ; 
Florence S. Jacobsen, general 
president of YWMIA ; Dr. Alma 
Burton of the Department of 
Seminaries and Institutes; and 
Lynn S. Richards of the Sunday 
School general superintendency. 
Presiding Bishop John H. Van- 
denberg was also in attendance 
that afternoon. 

Elder Richard L. Evans, chair- 
man of Youth Correlation, spoke 
to the assembled delegates about 
becoming a part of the world in 
the sense that one cannot influ- 
ence people unless there is con- 
tact with them. "It is easier to 
convert a friend than an enemy," 
he said. In speaking of success, 
Elder Evans suggested that to 



David Bly, convention reporter, is a 23-year-old student from Magrath, 
Alberta, Canada, an Era of Youth contest winner, and editor of the Ricks 
College Viking Scroll. He has served a mission to South Africa. 



Era, October 1970 43 



those who had received as much 
as they, mediocrity was unac- 
ceptable. "If it's mediocrity 
you're seeking," he said, "you've 
probably already achieved it." 

President A. Theodore Tuttle 
shared tender feelings and 
strong convictions regarding 
prayer ; he quoted President 
Joseph Fielding Smith as say- 
ing, "The philosophy and wis- 
dom of the world mean nothing 
save ' they conform to the re- 
vealed word of God." 

In summing up the role of the 
Student Association, Elder Boyd 
K. Packer of the Council of the 
Twelve told the students that at 
this time of campus unrest and 
turmoil, "You stand there." 
Bishop Victor L. Brown re- 
minded youth of their special re- 
lationship to God. 

George Romney, U.S. Secre- 
tary of Housing and Urban 
Development and prominent 
Latter-day Saint, responded to 
a special Pursuit of Excellence 
Award given to him by revealing 
nuggets of wisdom he's learned 
along the path of life. His can- 
did, spiritual manner won him a 
standing ovation. "America 
needs Americans as great as its 
principles," he counseled stu- 
dents, suggesting a similar stan- 
dard is true in the Church. Bruce 
Skidmore of Lansing, Michigan, 
presented the award. 

Other recipients of the Pursuit 
of Excellence Award were Dr. 
Homer Warner, in the field of 
medical science, and Dr. Alex- 
ander Schreiner, chief Taber- 
nacle organist, in the field of 
musical arts. A special service 
tribute was also paid to Elder 
Hanks, in honor of his long ser- 
vice to youth. "He that is great- 
est among you shall be your 
servant" (Matt. 23:11) was in- 
scribed on his plaque. Presenting 
these awards were Dr. Gilbert 



Snow, graduate dental student 
at Loyola University, Chicago ; 
Ute Winkler, University of Gut- 
enberg, Germany; and Phillip 
Smith, University of Birming- 
ham, England. 

The rapid exchange between 
student delegates, Student Asso- 
ciation leaders — Dr. J. Marvin 
Higbee, Dr. Frank Bradshaw, 
and Sister Cannon — and the 
guest speakers was an exciting 
part of the workshop sessions. 

Analyst for the seminar on 
minorities, civil rights, and BYU 
was Dr. Heber G. Wolsey, assis- 
tant to the president of Brigham 
Young University. The role of 
the LDS woman was discussed 
by Dr. Virginia F. Cutler, BYU 
professor of home economics. 
Helen Tingey, co-chairman of 
the MIA's M Man and Gleaner 
committee, led the discussion on 
the Student Association and the 
MIA. The Latter-day Saint 
college student and the institute 
of religion were discussed by Dr. 
William E. Berrett, administra- 
tor of seminaries and institutes. 

A panel discussion on ques- 
tions and answers in the aca- 
demic world featured Elder 
Hanks, moderator ; Dr. Neal 
Maxwell, Dr. G. Homer Durham, 
and Dr. Terry Warner. 

Following a banquet Saturday 
evening, the Pardoe Theater in 
the Harris Fine Arts Center was 
filled to capacity as over 500 
people crowded in to hear Presi- 
dent Harold B. Lee, first coun- 
selor in the First Presidency. 

"The best thing is to do the 
right thing at the right time 
without being told," said Presi- 
dent Lee. "The next best thing 
is to be told only once. 

"I say unto you, young lead- 
ers," he concluded, "carry back 
with you a strong testimony of 
the truthfulness of the gospel. It 
is the strongest weapon a human 




A western barbecue on the patio lawns of 
BYU preceded an old-fashioned square dance. 



Members of Church's Youth Correlation Com- 
mittee form a panel to answer questions put 
to them by delegates. 




Chaperones and international officers of 
Lambda Delta Sigma, Church sorority for 
girls, are Diane Dunford, Colleen Workman, 
Helen Bradshaw, Nedra M. Warner, Marie 
Mills, Lynn Higbee, Ruth Eichers, and Bar- 
bara Winder. 



being can have." 

The final session of the con- 
ference was held in the Taber- 
nacle. The group attended the 
Tabernacle Choir broadcast and 
heard Dr. Schreiner speak and 
play the organ in a special meet- 
ing. The delegates then moved 
to another room of the historic 
Tabernacle for a testimony 
meeting. O 



44 




John Preston Creer, newly called inter- George Romney is presented with Pursuit of 
national president of Sigma Gamma Chi, Excellence Award by Bruce Skidmore, dele- 
top, and Ute Winkler, delegate from Ger- gate from Lansing, Michigan, following an 
many, caught in conference moods. exciting address by the Cabinet member. 




Phillip Smith, delegate from England, takes 
advantage of recreation break for a little 
American bowling. 



Delegates line up for tra- 
ditional western barbecue. 



Spectacu/ar mountains framing the campus 
were thrilling to delegates from far places 
who picnic on the lawn. 




'" ^\/ 











Lynn S. Richards, assistant general Sunday 
School superintendent, and Bishop John H. 
Vandenberg chat during a break at LDSSA 
convention. 



Era, October 1970 45 






At Laurelife, skits on what it means 
to be a 16- and 17-year-old girl were 
featured each day (right). 





laurelife Is 



By Sue Gardiner* 



Laurels participated in discussion 
groups (above) and workshops on 
grooming (right). 



46 




• Memories of Laurelife — the 
Laurel Leadership Conference 
held at Brigham Young Univer- 
sity August 22 to 26 — are for 
remembering for more than a 
fleeting moment : they are a part 
of each Laurel's everyday life. 

Laurelife is music from folk 
singing groups and seeing an 
original "Laurelanny cow." It's 
a fashion show featuring the 
midi-look, and a jogging tour of 
the fabulous "Y" campus. 

Laurelife is spirituality — hav- 
ing the sacrament blessed by 



*Sue Gardiner, a Laurel, was co- 
editor of a daily newspaper published 
at the Laurelife Conference. 




Laurels who formed launching com- 
mittee are Carolyn Piatt, Becky 
Child, Kris Theurer, Sue Hill, Becky 
Landward. 



Laurelifeline newspaper staff: Debbie 
Hanni, Janice Ensign, Janet Baum- 
gartner, Sue Gardiner, Becky Olsen. 



"Laurelife is giving, it's loving 

and living, 
It's sharing our talents with all 

that we see. 
Laurelife is caring, it's hoping 

and daring 
To be what a Laurel's expected 

to be . . ." 




Presiding Bishop John H. Van- 
denberg and Bishop Robert L. 
Simpson. It's hearing Elder 
Marion D. Hanks tell of the mag- 
nitude of a woman's influence. 
It's a promise by President 
Harold B. Lee that each girl 
might use the strength of his 
testimony until she develops one 
of her own. It's knowing we 
must be a light unto the world 
through our example as children 
of our Father in heaven. 

Laurelife is the blossoming of 
new friendships — the joy of 
being with 2,500 girls who have 
the same ideals as you do. It's 
meeting in a small group for 
family night each evening and 
feeling the calmness and assur- 
ance of family prayer. It's a 
closeness felt as you see a shim- 
mering teardrop in a roommate's 
eye. 

Laurelife is learning how to 
make the most of dating experi- 
ences, how to turn a house into 



a home. It's preparation for a 
career in counseling, nursing, or 
the business world. It's sharing 
creative talents in art, writing, 
drama, and dance. It's partici- 
pating with others in your resi- 
dence hall in a talent show. 

Laurelife is hearing inspira- 
tional messages from Bishop 
Robert L. Simpson and Elder 
Boyd K. Packer and their wives. 
It's meeting the sun for an early- 
morning chorus or orchestra re- 
hearsal. It's laughing at boy-girl 
dating tactics in a clever skit. 
It's a musical uplift from the 
Mormon Youth Symphony and 
Chorus. 

Laurelife is a bow and arrow, 
a golf club, a bucket of water, 
as you relax during recreation 
hours. Laurelife is a bashful 
Miss Congeniality, a delicious 
banquet with the gift of a 
Laurelife charm, a concert by 
the King Cousins. 

Laurelife is the example of an 



inspired launching committee — 
five Laurel girls selected to plan 
and conduct the conference — and 
from fifty other Laurels in 
charge of various phases of a 
most successful five days. Lau- 
relife is the gentle promptings 
and wisdom of members of the 
YWMIA general presidency and 
general board. It's singing soft- 
ly "I Am a Child of God," tin- 
gling to the beautiful faith of a 
17-year-old convert in testimony 
meeting, the hope for an eternal 
meeting expressed in the fare- 
well song, "God Be With You 
Till We Meet Again." 

"Laurelife is growing, it's reap- 
ing and sowing, 

It's planting the seeds of a faith 
that is strong. 

Laurelife is doing, perfection 
pursuing, 

It's being too busy with right to 
do wrong." 

—"Laurelife," by Sue Hill 



Era, October 1970 47 




"Male Delivery" dating panel gives 
Laurels hints on how to get along 
with boys. 



"Love Mormon Style," one of the 
clever general assembly productions. 



Youth speaker in sacrament meeting 
tells of joys of being a Latter-day 
Saint girl. 



Workshop on fashions (far left) and 
happy faces of Laurels from all over 
United States and Canada (left). 




Leisuretime activities found Laurels 
planning family night surprises (far 
left) and participating in sports ac- 
| tivities (left). 



48 









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won't miss the special first issue, 

Get in on trie begirining-ahd all the 
rest of the months to come, with a 
pubjicattpn fiitecj, with articles Reared 
especially for young adults in' 
today ^s world. . ' ■ i l • * 





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" Eta, October t970 49 



What Is the 
Church Saying 

toYbu.? 



By Elaine Cannon 



• You are in the midst of young living. You are 
probably a member of the Church — or about to 
become one. We're interested in your viewpoint 
about your world and the Church. 

There are those who suggest that religion today 
is irrelevant, that it has little to offer the search- 
ing student, nothing much to say to the wayward, 
worldly one, and no answers to meet contemporary 
needs. 

We wonder about such statements, in the face 
of thrilling statistics of LDS church attendance, 
participation in auxiliary programs, and temple 
marriage. We wonder why there are any at all 
who fall by the way and withdraw from the pur- 
suit of growing in the gospel, when this church 
offers such valid direction for good living. Per- 
haps they aren't considering Mormonism thought- 
fully enough. 

What is your viewpoint ? What answers are you 
getting from Church leaders, publications, man- 
uals, classes, scriptures, experiences? We asked a 
number of you, and are printing some of your 
expressions. Let us hear from others of you. Let 
us "teach one another" while yet we may. 




Q. What is the Church saying to you? 

A. Lori Duncan (Salt Lake City, college senior) : 

The Church is telling me that in these times of 

tremendous confusion, dissent, and moral decay, 

there is a way to find true happiness ; that there 
are eternal truths upon which we may base all of 

our thoughts and actions; that there is a gospel 

of principles that will withstand all tests of time 

and relevancy ; that God is concerned with us, his 

children, and has spoken to us in these latter days 

that we may have meaningful, fulfilling lives. 

There are those who, of course, would say our 
church is no longer relevant, that God is now 
dead and man is sophisticated enough academical- 
ly now that he no longer must depend on the 
church and God. 

I marvel that anyone, no matter how keen, how 
brilliant or well educated, can watch a child be 
born, a flower bloom, a sun set, and not acknowl- 
edge the existence of a living being whose powers 
and knowledge so far exceed our own as to bring 
us to our knees in grateful and awesome humility. 



50 



How can they, even without accepting his ex- 
istence, deny the truthfulness of the principles of 
the gospel, when they are literally surrounded 
with examples of both kinds of lives all around 
them, lives filled with peace from righteous living 
as well as lives of misery and regret. 

Q. What answers are we getting from Church 
leaders? 

A. The leaders of the Church are living examples 
to us of total commitment to the gospel and to 
Christ-like living. They are special witnesses and 
agents of the Lord, and we may look to them for 
guidance in coping with our contemporary needs. 
The Church has always confronted dissent and 
criticism on certain issues. Its leaders are not 
timid or apologetic for our beliefs, but rather face 
the world with firm convictions. They stand amid 
the confusion and reassure Church members of 
the divine revelation being given. 

Q. What answers are we getting from scriptures? 

A. I find the scriptures to be a never-ending 
source of strength and comfort. I used to have to 
exert such will power to make myself read the 
scriptures. They seemed so dull, so far removed 
from my real world, until an institute teacher 
challenged me to read 15 minutes each day. He 
promised me that I would soon develop an appe- 
tite for reading and would benefit from it more 



and more each day. I tried it and, though it seemed 
hard at first, he was so right ! Now I find I some- 
times have to exert will power to stop reading the 
scriptures after half an hour and turn to my other 
studies. 

That bit of reading sets the whole tone of my 
day. As I go about work and school, passages come 
to mind and change my entire perspective as I set 
priorities and make decisions. They lend me that 
extra ounce of strength it takes to give when it 
would be easier to turn my back, to smile when I 
would rather blow up, to channel my thoughts and 
my conversation away from gossip or intolerance. 
It helps me avoid what Elder Marion D. Hanks 
calls "getting caught in the thick of thin things." 

When I slip and neglect my scripture reading, 
as I too often do, I feel much weaker and more 
vulnerable to temptation. Though its impact is 
subtle, often even subconscious, the difference it 
makes in my life is profound. 

I become more amazed each day at how appli- 
cable the scriptures are to my life, my trials, and 
my problems, and at how little human nature has 
changed since Adam. We still fight the same bat- 
tles, wrestle with the same temptatidns, receive 
the same blessings and answers. Indeed, the scrip- 
tures are relevant in my daily living. 

Q. What answers are we getting from institute 
classes? 



Era, October 1970 51 



A. While we are young, especially in college, we 
are expected to assimilate a tremendous amount 
of new knowledge. We are taught to think analyti- 
cally and critically. We are exposed to several, 
often incompatible, ways of thinking and are asked 
to choose for ourselves our own philosophy. More 
than ever before, I have felt a need for a balance 
in my life, to be maturing spiritually as well as 
physically and intellectually. I have felt a need 
to fit this new knowledge into my spiritual con- 
victions. Institute and seminary classes have 
played a very significant role in this endeavor. It 
has been an important link between gospel prin- 
ciples and my real life. It has made the gospel 
livable. 

I remember many times in high school and col- 
lege days when I have had serious doubts or ques- 
tions for which I could not find satisfying answers. 
In frustration I would confide in my seminary or 
institute teacher, knowing that he was sincerely 
concerned and that he advised with authority 
because his life was exemplary of how I should 
live. Almost every day of my life I am confronted 
with little decisions and situations that call to 
my mind specific lessons and pieces of advice I 
learned from good seminary and institute teachers 
along the way. 

Q. What answers do you get from your peers? 

A. I find great strength in the examples of my 
peers. To get up and walk out of an offensive 
movie; to stand up and defend — even befriend — 
a person whom everyone else ridicules ; to be the 
only one of the crowd to say no to drinking, to 
dishonest though seemingly harmless pranks, or to 
breaking the Sabbath day — all of these actions 
take a person of strong character. Such people 
among my friends have given immeasurable cour- 
age to others. 

I remember a night when some friends and I 
sneaked into a movie through the exit without 
paying. We were laughing and feeling smart and 
smug about it when, without a word, one of my 
friends got up and left the theater. Suddenly, 
being dishonest didn't seem funny to us anymore. 
One by one, each of us walked out, each secretly 
wishing we had had as much courage. 

Probably the most well-respected boy I know is 
a young man who makes friends with all kinds of 
people, regardless of their beliefs or status. He is 
loved among church members, fraternity mem- 
bers, and classmates. He is always the life of the 
party and a fun date, yet he has never lowered 



his high standards in any way to win a friend or 
to get a laugh. He gravitates naturally toward 
positions of leadership, because his peers, even 
the weakest ones, sense his strength of character. 
He has changed the lives of many persons. 




Q. Does the Church help you in daily life? 

A. Melody Williams (15-year-old New York FHA 

president) : 

For most of my life I lived in a community that 
was all Mormon. Then we moved to a place where 
we were the only Mormons in the school, and many 
things that happened tested my faith in my re- 
ligion. Our branch was small, and most of the. 
members were converts. The testimonies of the 
converts were so strong that they helped build my 
testimony, and consequently I became more in- 
volved in the Church. 

I feel the Church has set an excellent example 
for young people. The Era of Youth is one big 
help. It is especially for young people and their 
problems. Also, the Church has given us a lot of 
help on drugs, sex, and many important issues 
that face the youth of today. Our Church teachers 
have helped us to learn facts about such problems. 

But most important of all is the one person we 
can always go to with our problems : our Father in 
heaven. I know that he has helped me make many 
important decisions. He has also helped my par- 
ents to teach me the true and the right way. The 
Church has taught me how to be closer to him. 
Thus, I feel that the Church has thousands of ideas 
to offer the searching students if only they will 
listen. 



52 




Q. Is the Church important in your life? 

A. Bryant McOmber (law student from Palo Alto, 

California) : 

At its inception in 1869, the YWMIA was given 
the title of Retrenchment Society, its basic pur- 
pose being to shield the youth of Zion from world- 
ly influences. Subsequently this name was 
discarded and today we call it the Mutual Improve- 
ment Association, whose motto is "the glory of 
God is intelligence." 

To me this change represents wisdom. In the 
parable of the pieces of silver, the "retrenchment" 
servant, upon receiving his piece of silver, hid it 
away, reasoning that if it could be removed from 
a world of uncertainty and challenge, it would 
still be there at the master's return. It was. But 
while the "improvement" servants took their allot- 
ments out into the world and increased them sev- 
eral times and thus received praise and greater 
responsibilities, the "retrenchment" servant was 
scolded and his piece of silver was taken. 

The Church, with its positive powers, has been 
restored. Its relevance today is directly propor- 
tional to our success in utilizing it as a means of 
improvement instead of retrenchment. A great 
source of satisfaction and development to me is 
the association with other students and young pro- 
fessional people in the ward I attend who are con- 
cerned with current religious and social problems. 
The Sunday School classroom serves as a forum 
for stimulating discussions, where the challenge 



is to internalize and apply Christ's principles, 
such as how to love our neighbors. It is this con- 
tinual effort that makes the gospel meaningful in 
a contemporary setting and provides substance for 
the growth of my testimony. 

Q. Do you feel the gospel is relevant in today's 
world? 

A. Tom Schwartz (graduate student and journal- 
ist from Wisconsin) : 

It is hard to know where to start a statement 
concerning the relevance of the gospel in my life. 
When I look at the principles that motivate my 
life, the values and ideals that give purpose and 
direction to my life, I find that they can all be 
traced back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The in- 
fluence of the gospel on my life is difficult to 
measure simply because it is so pervasive. It has 
reached every area of my life ; and every decision 
I make, every action, is enriched and deepened by 
the fact of my membership in the Church. 

I have found that some of those things that I 
have been taught to value are now coming to be 
be valued by the secular world. And I am a bit 
amused by the tendency of the secular world to 
act as if it has discovered something new. Long 
before the secular student was introduced to the 
socratic notion that knowledge is virtue, I was 
taught that the glory of God is intelligence. I was 
taught to read good books and to develop my tal- 
ents. I find myself today committed to the educa- 
tive process. Because I am a Mormon, I am proud 
to be a student. And long before the secular stu- 
dent was infected with a social consciousness, I 
was taught that true religion concerns itself with 
the victims of society: the poor, the oppressed, 
and those who are discriminated against. Now I 
fight for social equality and against envy, hatred, 
and prejudice. 

These values point out the secular relevance of 
the gospel. There is another relevance, however — 
a deeper relevance, and one that leaves a lump in 
my throat and fills the furthest recesses of my 
heart with humility. That is the gift of Jesus 
Christ. This is my memory of that gift. 

Jesus knew me, for I was his younger brother. 
He knew me well. He knew that I was weak, slow 
to do good. He knew that I would make mistakes, 
that I would take more than I would give. And 
he knew that I would be too slow to repay my debt. 
Yet he loved me. He loved me so well that he 
assumed responsibility for my debt and cancelled 
that debt with his blood. That is the relevance of 
the gospel to my life. O 



Era, October 1970 53 



: 






i 








**>m 



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v 



/ 




What Do You Read? 




Note : Nancy Twitty, reporting for the 
Era of Youth, questions her peers on 
their reading tastes and habits. Par- 
ticipating in the discussion are : 

Mel Pyne, 18, who has been active in 
football, basketball, and track, and 
has been a seminary officer. 

Rick Hymas, 18, a 1970 high school 
graduate who wants to go on to law 
school. 

Julie Butler, 18, a debater who plans 
to be a junior high school English 
teacher. 

Lowell Anderson, 18, a debater and 
all-state football player who wants to 
be a doctor. 

Richard Hoopes, 19, who is majoring 
in business economics and played on 
the 1969 all-Church basketball team. 

Kathy Pope, 18, active in student body 
offices, who wants to teach high 
school English. 

Lora Bodine, 16, a high school junior 
who loves drama and plans to teach 
speech. 



• "Reading serves for delight, 
for ornament, for ability. The 
crafty condemn it; the simple 
admire it; the wise use it." 

Little did Francis Bacon real- 
ize when he made this classic 
statement that he could well be 
describing youth of the '70s. The 
wise? Seven normal, "now- 
generation" teenagers, all active 
Church-doers. Wise because they 
read, but wise more because they 
use it. Sharp, crisp, aware, in- 
telligent, directed. Here's what 
they think about reading: 

Is reading really as important 
now as it used to be? 

Julie: Yes, it definitely has its 
place, although a lot of things 



54 





^p 



By Nancy Twitty 



have moved in on it. Reading 
is a good escape. It gives, you a 
chance to relax and put your 
mind on other things. 

Lora : I learn insights 1 wouldn't 
realize otherwise. When I read 
about people, I learn how to 
understand them better. 

Mel: It's the unnoticed things 
you learn through reading. 
You find ways to express 
yourself through reading the 
expressions of others. 

Lowell : Reading gives me a bet- 
ter insight into what's going 
on around me, as well as how 
I can better myself. But I, 
don't usually read unless I 
have a purpose in doing it. 

What do you read? 



Kathy : I enjoy historical novels. 
I identify with the characters 
and wish I could be more like 
them. I don't read enough 
news articles or Church books, 
and I wish I would spend more 
time doing that. 

Mel: I like scriptures because 
that's what I need most, and 
that's where the truth is. 

Lora: Novels are my favorites. I 
like them because they have 
symbolism and make me think. 

Richard: I like to read short 
stories, because they usually 
deal with a person's character. 
I get excited when I see the 
character of a person revealed. 

Julie: My taste in reading is 
wide. I like plays and sym- 
bolic novels, but I think I 
enjoy reading magazines and 
newspapers more because 
that's where you learn the 
most about people. 

Rick : I too like newspapers and 
magazines the best, because 
I've always been impressed 
with people who know what's 
going on. To be a success in 
anything these days, we have 
to be informed, and reading 
novels just isn't enough. Sure, 
we can gain an appreciation 
for life, but that doesn't help 
us know about today. 

What about reading scriptures? 

Richard: Often the stories we 
read in the scriptures apply di- 
rectly to our lives. When I 
have a problem, I can always 
look back to Alma and see 
how he solved it. Or I can go 
to the Book of Mormon and 
find answers to many perti- 
nent questions of the day. 

Julie: My religion teacher told 
us that if we would read the 
scriptures and have a good 
balance with our academic 
studies, the scriptures would 



help us just as a good team of 
horses pulls the cart better. 

Do you really have time to read? 

Lora: You have to make time. 

Richard : I like short stories be- 
cause I can read them in just 
a few minutes. 

Rick: If I'm really interested in 
a book, I find there's a lot of 
time. 

Kathy: If I get to bed before 
10 :30, 1 read 15 minutes in the 
Book of Mormon, and on Sun- 
day, I spend quite a bit of 
time reading. 

Lowell: Since I work late, I find 
it's convenient for me to read 
the newspaper when I get 
home, and now it's a habit. 

How do books with bad language 
affect you? 

Lora : Novels with bad language 
really have an effect on me, 
because words are put into my 
mind that have never been 
there before. What you read 
has a strong effect. 

Lowell: Your mind is always 
storing something, and it will 
store what you read, too. 

Mel: It's not a matter of who 
you are or where you come 
from. If you read books that 
convey bad thoughts, they will 
be implanted somewhere in 
your mind. Even if those 
thoughts aren't cultivated, 
they are still implanted. 

Mel: Yes, we need to be se- 
lective in choosing books or 
magazines that emphasize 
good. We don't need to look 
for the bad, because chances 
are we'll see it anyway. 

Kathy: If the emphasis of a 
book is on bad things, we 
should stay away from it. We 
should read things that em- 
phasize the good instead. O 



Era, October 1970 55 




• Jason Call squinted through the dust as horse's 
hooves rose and fell in the yellow dirt of the quiet 
street. Eyes puffed slightly from the swirling cloud 
and wrinkles lining hollow cheeks— both, in a way, 
belied his 34 years. 

Midway through the small town he pulled the 
wagon up in front of a weather-scarred building. 
Above the door, words in yellow built an arch on 
warped boards: SCOTT CITY MERC. 

Jason reached back and shook his son. "Ronnie. 
Hey, Ronnie." 

The boy threw the tarpaulin aside, brown hair 
rumpled. Troubled sleep shadowed his eyes and 
hung to the gaunt face. They climbed from the wagon, 
tethered the team to the hitching rail, and mounted 
the steps to the open door of the small store. 

The smell of oiled wooden floors and new leather 
sent pangs of homesickness through Jason. How long 
now? Two months since they'd been in a store? Since 
the sights and smells and colors of newness? 

Inside, a woman was hanging lace from a display 
rack. "And what can I help you gentlemen with?" 

"Good afternoon, ma'am. We need about sixty- 
board feet of lumber." 

"You're lucky. We just got a shipment yesterday." 

Soft silk rustled, and a young girl moved through 
the open door. Golden braids hung down her back, 
and her dress was frilly, new, and expensive. 

"Hello, Paula," the woman said. "And happy birth- 
day. How does it feel to be 16?" 

"Hello, Mrs. Martin. Just fine, thank you." 

"I'll be with you in just a moment." She turned to 
Jason. "Anything else?" Through the open door she 



saw the wagon outside, a dust-covered plow tied to\ 
the back. "Going west?" 

"That's right. Utah." 

"Utah! I heard those Mormons who settled there' 
had a pretty rough time." She eyed Jason closely. "By 
the way, you wouldn't be one of them, would you?" 

"Not yet, ma'am, but we're hoping to be in another 
two weeks." 

At the sound of the rustle of silk again, the woman 
hurried to the open door. "Just a minute, Paula. 
Paula!" But the girl, running across the street, didn't 
look back. 

Jason paid for his purchase, and he and Ronnie 
began sliding lumber in the wagon from a stack against 
the building. 

The girl, Paula, suddenly appeared from across the 
street, a step behind a husky man. His hair was 
slightly gray at the temples, and in his face one could 
see the signs of long-suppressed anger. He moved to 
the porch steps and watched Jason untie the horses. 
"They tell me you're a Mormon. Or almost, anyway." 

Jason looked at him. "That's right. Any laws against 
it?" 

"No laws, but then they tell me there's quite a few 
places with no such laws, places not exactly healthy 
for Mormons." A half smile pulled at the man's thick 
lips, and emotion moved strong in his voice. "Well, 
Scott City is one such place. You're courting trouble 
if you hang around here." Abruptly he turned and 
stalked away. 



Kenley Reese, a Sunday School teacher in the Utah State 
University First Ward, has recently returned to college. 
He and his wife have four children. 



56 





By Kenley Reese 

Illustrated by Ralph Reynolds 




Uncertainly, the girl turned. "Daddy! Aren't 
you going to ask him? Daddy!" Perplexed, she 
looked at Jason, then hurried after her father. 
'Some reception," said the woman from the porch. 
"Don't pay too much mind to Ross Sloan, though. He's 
just a bit touchy when it comes to strangers, especially 
those with plows. He owns a ranch outside of town, 
and he's been fighting squatters for the past year 
now." She raised one hand. "Well, good luck to you, 
and if you're back this way, stop in again." She dis- 
appeared inside the store as the wagon moved down 
the dusty street. 

Beyond the last house of Scott City, Jason swung 
from the deep-rutted road and drove for a while in 
.the open desert. The smell of sage, of chaparral, as 
(iron tires smashed the brush, brought Francine into 
his mind. How she'd loved the high desert— extremes 
in temperature and clean crisp air, the endless view 
and cleansing effect after a sudden rainstorm. 

Jason closed his eyes, fighting the hurt that stabbed 
at him, trying to force the picture away. He stopped 
the team and climbed from the seat of the wagon. 
They unloaded the lumber, took a hammer, a saw, and 
some rusty nails from beneath the seat, and then 
slowly began the task of forming a pine box. 

The coffin built, they dug in silence. A buzzard 
circled, high, loose, in the dead hot air, then drifted 
on the wind toward the west. 

They finished the grave just before sundown. 
Tenderly, Jason removed a sheet-covered form from 
the back of the wagon and laid it in the rough box and 
nailed the lid. Then, with a worn rope, they lowered 
the coffin into the hole. — ► 



Era, October 1970 57 



As clods banged loudly on top of the box, Ronnie 
suddenly dropped the shovel and turned blindly to- 
ward his father, flinging his arms around Jason's 
stomach, violent sobs racking his body. Jason sat on 
the pile of earth, holding Ronnie's head on his chest. 
Resting now, his son's shaking body against his own, 
he felt the restraining bonds that had held him for 
two days slowly release their grip. The pain stirred 
sharply in his chest, squeezing unbearably, moving 
up slowly, constricting his throat, until finally the 
tears began. 

Jason had no sense of time spent there, of rocking 
gently back and forth, or of when his son's tears were 
gone. He was first aware of his own tears spent. 
Slowly he pushed Ronnie to arm's length and wiped 
tears from his son's face with a rough but tender 
hand. "Why don't you water the horses, son, and 
start some supper. I'll finish this and then we'll eat." 

The boy moved off, and Jason continued to cover 
the grave. He made a crude marker from two board 
ends and wrote, with a small piece of charcoal: Fran- 
cine Call— In God We Trust. Then slowly he moved 
to the fire that Ronnie had built. 

Ronnie sat against one of the wheels, scratching in 
the ground with a broken stick. "How come they all 
treat us like dirt?" 

Jason turned the meat. "You mean the man in town 
there?" 

"Yes. And back home, too. Why did they burn 
our house and fields? Even when they knew that 
mom was sick, that she shouldn't be going anywhere? 
What difference should it make what we believe?" 

"I can't rightly say, son. Partly human nature, I 



guess. Things that people don't understand are things 
they're most afraid of. And they strike out, not really 
knowing what they're striking out at, but having to 
react to the fear in some way." 

Suddenly, with violence, Ronnie flung the stick 
away. "Well, I hate them for it! I hope God makes 
them all suffer! I hope—" 

"Ronnie!" Jason reached out and touched his son. 
"No, Ronnie! Remember what Christ said when he 
hung on the cross?" 

Ronnie nodded his head, ashamed as he stared at 
the ground. "Yes, I remember. He was stronger than 
I am, though." 

"Yes, son. But that's what we're here for— to try to 
become that strong. You know how it hurt your mother 
when you thought like that of people." 

After finishing the meal, they tiredly crawled into 
bed. Jason lay awake till he heard the steady rhythm 
of Ronnie's breathing; then he reached across and 
pulled the blanket snug around his son. As his hand 
brushed Ronnie's cheek, the old worry came again. 
Could he, Jason, finish the job that he and Fran had 
faced with their son? Could he somehow help Ronnie 
over the hurdle of regaining a belief in men and 
chucking aside the hate and mistrust— a hate and mis- 
trust that shouldn't belong to any man, let alone a 
12-year-old boy? It wouldn't be easy, not with people 
like Ross Sloan persecuting them wherever they 
turned. Yet somehow it would have to be done, or 
the now-small canker would turn to a deadly disease. 

The next morning when Jason and Ronnie rolled 
out of bed, the sky was overcast, gray, and gloomy. 
They were putting the last of their things in the wagon 



58 



when Paula Sloan rode into camp, wearing a rain Jason waved a hand toward the grave. "None, Mr. 

slicker and with a bedroll tied to the back of her Sloan." 

saddle. "Could I talk to you, mister—" Ross glanced at the fresh mound of earth and read 

"Call, ma'am. Jason Call." the words scrawled on the board. As he turned back 

"How much would you charge to take me with to Jason, his voice was softer, more deliberate. "Tell 

you?" me, what's religion ever done for you? If your church 

Jason shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's out of the is so right, how come you're here with a broken-down 

question— you should know that. Besides, you know wagon and a hungry kid and a new-filled grave? You 

nothing about us." must be crazy!" 

"I know enough. You're Mormons, aren't you? And "I'm no different from you, Sloan. I loved my wife 

you're going to Utah, aren't you?" as you must have loved yours. We cry tears when 

"Yes, but what does that have to do with it?" we're hurt and bleed when we're cut, the same as you 

She bit her lip. "I've got to— I've got to find my do. My children need love and food and shelter like 

mother and sister. You see," she hurried to explain, anyone else's. We hope for a better world, and, 

"my mother joined the Mormon church when I was like anyone else, we look for ways to make it like that." 

13. Daddy said she was going to Utah and was taking "Well, you're crazy if you think that better world's 

me and Penny with her— that's my sister. Penny was going to come through your way of thinking." 

just a baby then, so daddy took me and we came out Lightning flashed and thunder rolled, much closer 

here. And— and I've got to find them. I've got to!" now. Ross Sloan glanced up at the sky. "Take some 

The sound of horses' hooves from down the wagon- advice, Call, and cross that river before it storms, or 

rutted road startled them. "What are you doing here, you won't get across. And as sure as you're standing 

Paula?" Ross Sloan called as he pulled up beside there, if you come back to Scott City, I'll have you 

them. tarred and feathered." He turned, caught the reins 

When Paula avoided his eyes, he turned to Jason. of Paula's bridle, and led her horse back toward town. 

"What have you put her up to, mister? Wasn't one By early afternoon Jason and Ronnie were several 

enough? You trying to ruin my whole family?" miles from Scott City. The rain was coming in tor- 

"Mr. Call isn't ruining anyone's family, daddy. He rents now, and lightning flashed and thunder rolled 

won't take me." as the wagon slid in the water-filled ruts. As they 

"Well, that's a switch— Mormons turning down a turned slowly west, Jason saw movement back on the 

chance to recruit a woman! Tell me, Call, how many road. Another turn south, and they paralleled the 

wives have you got anyway?" swollen river, filled with logs and floating debris; and 

Ronnie moved to stand by Jason. finally Jason could make out a rider a few hundred 

"Huh, Call? How many?" yards back on the road. 

Era, October 1970 59 



A sudden streak of lightning knifed through the 
sluicing rain, and an instantaneous thunderclap shat- 
tered the air. Jason looked back but couldn't see the 
rider. Suddenly, only yards away, he saw the horse 
and rider racing blindly over the bank toward the 
river. They plunged into the water, and the horse 
came up alone. 

Jason shoved the lines into Ronnie's hands and 
sprang from the wagon, slipping, sliding down the 
muddy incline, finally catching sight of a body in the 
roily water. Jumping in, dodging limbs and knotted 
stumps, he reached out his hand and grabbed for the 
body. It was Paula Sloan. 

Jason dragged her back to shore, fighting the cur- 
rent. The girl was limp, almost lifeless, now. Fear 
spurred him on as he carried her up the slippery bank. 
She was still unconscious as he put her in the wagon, 
climbed to the seat, and whipped the horses around, 
back toward Scott City. 

As he raced the team down the wide muddy street 
toward the sign-DR. J. L. PREECE, M.D.-he turned 
to his son. "Ronnie, you go sec if you can find Ross 
Sloan. Ask someone. And hurry!" Then he picked up 
the girl and shouldered the door open. 

A thin man rose from a desk as he entered. "Put 
her on the bed there." 

"She fell from her horse into the river," Jason ex- 
plained. 

The man grunted softly and bent over her, checking 
her eyes and pulse, then examined her head, where 
blood was coloring the mud-filled hair. 

As he was cleaning the wound, the door banged 
open and Ross Sloan burst into the room, Ronnie 
close behind him. Seeing Paula, Ross moved toward 
the bed. "Is she all right? What happened?" He spun 
suddenly on Jason, anger flashing in dark eyes. "She 
was with you?" 

"Following us. I saw her go in the river." 

"She got a knock on the head, Ross," the doctor said 
softly. "It doesn't look good. All we can do is wait 
and see." 

"There's nothing we can do?" 

"Nothing. Unless you believe in a power stronger 
than mine. In that case you might try praying a little." 

Ross glanced at Jason, catching his eye, then looked 
away quickly, swallowing hard as he took a chair 
next to his daughter. Jason stood by the single window, 
knowing he didn't belong there now, yet worried 
about the girl. 

Throughout the afternoon the rain let up, then 
came again, as the doctor paced the small room, 
stopping occasionally to take Paula's pulse or check 
her eyes. Ross Sloan, holding his daughter's hand, 
found his composure melting away, as tears reddened 



his eyes and his lips quivered uncontrollably. With a 
heavy sob, he buried his head beside his daughter's 
hand. 

Time dragged. Suddenly Ross raised his head, 
staring at Paula, holding his breath. He jumped up as 
he saw her trying to open her eyes. Slowly she came 
around, finally focusing eyes on her father. "Where— 
where— where's mother?" 

Ross shook his head. "She's not here, honey." 

Paula's eyes filled with tears as she clutched her 
father's arms. "Let's go find them, daddy! Please!" 

Ross glanced from Paula to Doctor Preece, over to 
Jason, then back to Paula, and his shoulders straight- 
ened ever so slightly. His voice was strangely soft, yet 
strong. "All right, Paula, I promise we'll go as soon 
as you get well enough. I promise." 

Weakly Paula raised her arms to her father's neck. 
"Oh, daddy, I love you so! I know we'll find them. 
I just know we will!" 

The doctor reached for her pulse. "Well, right now, 
Miss Sloan, you'd better lie down and rest awhile." 

Jason turned back to the window. The rain had 
stopped, nothing more than a mist now. Suddenly he 
was aware of Ross Sloan next to his shoulder. 

"How come you risked your neck to pull her out?" 

"Do you think you could have stood and watched 
my son drown?" 

Ross lowered his eyes, then poked out his hand. 
"I— I want you to know I appreciate it. I don't know 
what would happen if I'd lost her." 

Jason shook his hand, then turned to the door. 
"Well, Ronnie, I guess we'd better be on our way." 

"Look, Mr. Call," Ross said, glancing at the floor, 
"you can't leave. It'll be sometime before that river 
drops enough that you can get across. Why— why 
don't you and your son be my guests till then? I'll bet 
it's been ages since either of you have slept under a 
roof or ate at a table." 

Ronnie stared up at Ross Sloan. "But you said if we 
came back here you'd—" 

"Yes, Ronnie," Ross broke in, "I remember only too 
well. But I guess I lived with it for so long, it was 
all I really knew what to say." 

A wide rainbow arched its colors over the eastern 
edge of town, and Ross turned from the image- 
distorting window. A trace of a smile tugged at his 
lips. "Well, we'd better get you out of those wet 
clothes first thing, Mr. Call." 

As they left the office, Ronnie hung back, touching 
his father's coat sleeve lightly. "Dad, I guess he's not 
as bad as I thought. Not really." 

"No, son, he isn't. No man is, really." And Jason 
put an arm around Ronnie's shoulders as they followed 
Ross Sloan across the street. O 



60 




iSii'i'S 



performance 




It's where Bob Bramerel takes his car. 
BobBramerel? 



v 



Bob's a businessman -and a 
weekend race driver. 

His only preparations are a 
tune-up, a little tape, and a 
check in at The Performance 
Stop-the Phillips 66 station. 



That's where he fills up with Keepyour engine running 
Phillips Flite-Fuel, the perform- clean with Flite-Fuel and Trop- 
ance gasoline, and Trop-Artic® Artie. You can get them now 
Motor Oil, with its exclusive at The Performance Stop- 
detergent additive. They keep the Phillips 66 station near you. 
his engine running clean— 
and give him all the power 
he needs. 




At Phillips 66 
it's performance 
that counts. 



The Church 
Moves On 



of the Treasury David M. Kennedy and 
Secretary of Housing and Urban De- 
velopment George Romney. 



July 1970 

2] President and Sister Joseph Field- 
ing Smith participated in the Days of 
'47 parade in downtown Salt Lake City, 
honoring the arrival of the pioneers 
in Salt Lake Valley in 1847. 

Early this evening Air Force One 
landed at the Salt Lake Airport, bring- 
ing President and Mrs. Richard M. 
Nixon and their daughter Tricia for a 
brief stopover in Salt Lake City, en 
route to California. President Nixon 
conferred for nearly an hour with the 
First Presidency and Council of the 
Twelve in the Church Office Building, 
then attended the Days of '47 Rodeo 
in the Salt Palace. Among those in 
the President's party were two Latter- 
day Saint Cabinet members, Secretary 



The appointments of Harley K. 
Adamson, Helen B. Gibbons, and Wil- 
liam M. Foxley to the general board 
of the Deseret Sunday School Union 
were announced. 



Elder Howard W. Hunter of the 
Council of the Twelve organized the 
Nuku'alofa South and the Nuku'alofa 
West stakes from the Nuku'alofa Stake 
and the Tonga Mission, bringing the 
total stakes in the Church to 520. 
Tevita F. Mahuinga was sustained as 
president of Nuku'alofa South Stake, 
with Semisi Moli Negatuvai and Manase 
Lutu Tonga as counselors. Orson H. 
White was sustained as president of 
Nuku'alofa West Stake, with Donald D. 
Richins and Hamani F. Wolfgramm as 
counselors. 

New stake presidency: Tevita Ka'ili 



was sustained as president of Nuku'- 
alofa Stake, with Sione Tualau Latu 
and Tevita Uatahausi Mapa as coun- 
selors. 

The site where the Church was or- 
ganized at Fayette, New York, was 
dedicated as a visitors center by Presi- 
dent N. Eldon Tanner of the First 
Presidency. 

An early morning $75,000 fire hit the 
Taylorsville Stake center in suburban 
Salt Lake County. 



America's Witness for Christ, the 
Book of Mormon pageant, opened its 
season tonight at the Hill Cumorah in 
upstate New York. 

August 1970 

Q The First Presidency announced the 
appointment of C. Bryant Whiting, of 
Eager, Arizona,, as president of the 
Arizona Temple, succeeding President 
Jesse M. Smith. 




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The appointments of Wendell B. 
Mendenhall, H. Burke Peterson, Lysle 
R. Cahoon, Thomas Y. Emmett, L. 
Aldin Porter, Ferril A. Kay, and Derek 
A. Cuthbert as Regional Representatives 
of the Council of the Twelve were an- 
nounced. 

The final performance of the pageant 
America's Witness For Christ was pre- 
sented at the Hill Cumorah. An esti- 
mated 110,000 persons witnessed this 
year's pageant. 

[jj Mrs. Lucile C. Reading, first coun- 
selor in the Primary Association general 
presidency, has been named managing 
editor of the new children's magazine, 
it was announced. Named as assistant 
managing editor was Mrs. Gladys D. 
Daines, who has been managing editor 
of the Children's Friend. 



Announcement was made of the 
appointments of Dee F. Andersen, 
Bountiful, Utah, as associate commis- 
sioner for finance and business and as 
secretary of the Church board of educa- 
tion and board of trustees, and Richard 
C. Stratford, Los Angeles, as the direc- 
tor of development for the Church 
educational systems and also executive 
director of development at Brigham 
Young University. 

The appointment of C. Kay Allen to 
the general board of the Deseret Sun- 
day School Union was announced. 

The appointments of Helen Wright 
Jeppson and Arlene Sonntag Kirton 
to the Relief Society general board 
were announced. 

^| Jay M. Todd, assistant managing 
editor of the Improvement Era, has 
been appointed managing editor of the 
as yet unnamed new magazine for the 
young people of the Church, it was an- 
nounced. Elaine Cannon, who is serv- 
ing as associate editor of the Era of 
Youth, will be an associate editor of the 
new magazine. 

The appointment of Sara Broadbent 
Paulsen to the general board of the 
Primary Association was announced. 



Era, October 1970 63 



If you sell... 

let's talk about new 
growth for you. 




Joel Gold sells insurance in the Hayward, California area. 
Joel is driving around in a brand new, fully-equipped prestige 
car these days, compliments of Beneficial Life and its 
revolutionary consultants' contract which has made it possible 
for Joel and others like him to reap personal financial 
rewards beyond their fondest hopes. He earned the new car by 
being the company's top producer. That's Joel on the right 
with Mrs. Gold. They're receiving the car keys from Conway 
A. Ashton, Beneficial president, and his wife, Emma Rae 
McKay Ashton. Here's what Joel has to say about Beneficial 
Life's unique new consultant's contract: 

"There is no other insurance contract I know of that 
is quite like it. If a fellow really wants to work and produce 
now, and continue to produce without trying to rest on past 
performance, he'll make fifty percent more money now 
than he'd make under any other contract that I'm aware of. 
This contract is a winner. If you sell, you'll love it." 

Don't take Joel Gold's word for it. Try our contract yourself. 
If you want to sell bigger and better than ever before, or if 
you want to learn about some exciting new field management 
opportunities, call collect now to Jay B. Horrocks, CLU, 
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wishes you many merry Christmases 



ARIZONA 
C. W. Thompson 
529 S. Hobson 
Mesa 85201 
CALIFORNIA 
Robert Hemingway 
2404 Elton 
Bakerfield 93300 
Millard C. Haymore 
8333 Petunia Way 
Buena Park 90620 
Richard Morgan 
4279 Penn Mar 
El Monte 91732 
Guy E. Davis 
10424 Owl Circle 
Fountain Val. 92708 
Bill Pier 
3634 W. 107th 
Inglewood 90301 
Dean Judd 
4271 Camino Pa; 
La Mesa 92041 
David Tucker 
P.O. Box 7273 
Sacramento 95670 
Lon Swenson 
1313 Arcadia 
Santa Susana 93063 
Pitcher-Reynolds 
1340 Miette Way 
Sunnyvale 94087 
COLORADO 
Charles K. Cole 
4355 Butler Circle 
Boulder 80303 



DELAWARE 
Karl G. Tippets 
2209 Glen Avon 
Wilmington 19808 

FLORIDA 

W. A. Stephensen 
440 Norwood Ave. 
Satellite 32935 

GEORGIA 
O'Brien Baird 
P.O. Box 364 
Morrow (Atlanta) 

HAWAII 

Wesley G. Dana 
P.O. Box 86 CCH 
Laie, Oahu 96762 

IDAHO 
Ron Warth 

1821 Vista Ave. 

Boise 84700 
R. L. Bybee 

2645 S 2nd St. 

Pocatello 83201 

ILLINOIS 

C. Dale Frisbie 

1350 Ledlie 

Springfield 62702 
NEVADA 

Larry Skousen 

5108 Alta Dr. 

Las Vegas 
Clair Gill is 

420 14th St. 

Sparks 89431 



NEW MEXICO 
John B. Burrell 
9012 Haines Ave. ME 
Albuquerque 87100 
OREGON 
Yingling & Yingling 
P.O. Box 318 A 
Drain 
TEXAS 
Walter Turley 
P.O. Box 2183 
El Paso 79902 
UTAH 
James Lane 
843 W. 3600 S. 
Bountiful 
John Yardley 
Greenville 84731 
Fielding Harris 
Box 204 
354 N. Hwy. 17 
Hurricane 84737 
Wm. Christensen 
706 Columbia Lane 
Provo 84601 
Leo Hollingshead 
2370 So. State St. 
Salt Lake 84115 

WASHINGTON 
Margaret E. Nielsen 

Box 1731 Spokane 

Box 88 Moses Lk Rt3 
Vaughn Eastman 

6711 Vickery Ave. E 

Tacoma 98443 



Research 
& Review 



The Qualities 

Students Want in 

a Teacher 

(or Parent) 



By Albert L. Payne 

Improvement Era Contributing Editor 



• What do teenagers want from a 
teacher? How do they think we ought 
to teach? Do they want us to empha- 
size content or method? What kind of 
person shall we strive to be? Shall we 
be aloof or warm, strict or permissive? 

While many attempts to answer such 
questions have been made, those who 
have inquired about them have usually 
done so from the point of view of 
adults. Their conclusions appear to be 
more certain about what not to do and 
be than they are about the traits and 
skills essential to success. This uncer- 
tainty is reflected in the writings of 
Frederic B. Knight. He says, "Some 
minimum essentials can be stated, but 
at present we are not certain as to how 
we can use the knowledge of minimum 
essentials which we now have." (Qual- 
ities Related to Success in Teaching 
[New York: Teachers College, Colum- 
bia University, 1922], p. 34.) 

A more recent and somewhat more 
pessimistic appraisal of the situation 
indicates that "the problem of teacher 
effectiveness is so complex that no one 
today knows what the competent teach- 
er is." (B. J. Biddle and W. J. Ellena, 
Contemporary Research on Teacher 
Effectiveness [New York: Holt, Rein- 
hart, and Winston, 1964], p. 2.) 

In spite of these things, however, all 
are perhaps aware of the fact that good 
teaching does not just happen; there- 



fpre, teachers are obligated to find 
which traits and skills are foundational 
to success and which are considered es- 
sential by the teens they teach. 

One factor that complicates our ef- 
forts is that one discipline may require 
a different philosophy of education, 
method, and teaching personality than 
another. It would appear, for example, 
that as one goes from concrete to ab- 
stract subject material, the problem of 
teaching effectively becomes compli- 
cated and difficult. From this point of 
view the procedures and characteristics 
of a mathematics teacher may be more 
easily determinable than those of a 
teacher in one of the social sciences, 
and this complexity is greatly increased 
when the teaching situation has to do 
with morality, spirituality, and theol- 
ogy. The Department of Seminaries 
and Institutes of Religion has long 
known, for example, that a successful 
public school teacher may not be an 
acceptable seminary teacher, and a 
good seminary teacher may fail in 
public schools. Personality require- 
ments are very different in these in- 
stances and may largely account for 
the differences. 

A study that may come closer than 
the above to answering the problems 
of teaching in the Church is Glen A. 
Mitchell's report of responses from 681 
high school seminary students as to 






Era, October 1970 65 



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what they consider the most essential 
personality traits and skills of seminary 
teachers. (See "Personality Traits and 
Skills Considered by Seminary Students 
to Be Most Important for Successful 
Released-time Seminary Teacher," un- 
published master's thesis, BYU, 1967.) 
The five top teaching skills and their 
percentage of relative importance were: 

Abso- 
lutely Very 

Neces- Impor- Impor- 
sary tant tant 

1. Knowledge 67 25 6 

2. Likes to teach 65 26 8 

3. Is prepared 

and organized 57 34 7 

4. Teaches on the 

student's level 56 30 11 

5. Gives excellent 
and interesting 

lessons 38 36 4 

The five top traits of teachers were: 



1. 


Spirituality 


73 


20 


6 


2. 


Integrity 


67 


26 


6 


3. 


Interest in 










students 


66 


27 


7 


4. 


Good example 


65 


27 


6 


5. 


Self-control, 










patience 


53 


38 


8 



The above study is of importance to 
teachers in the Church because we are 
or should be urgently desirous of im- 
proving the quality of our instruction. 
To the degree we are able to delineate 
the factors of success, we will tend to 
eliminate failure and know greater 
prosperity in this aspect of the Lord's 
work. 

If one were to look at the first 15 
traits and skills — the Mitchell study in- 
cluding rating of 30 traits and 20 skills 
— with a view to putting student an- 
swers into somewhat sophisticated 
terms, some ideas of importance would 
be apparent. Four of the first five have 
to do with the degree of maturity of the 
teacher. Students put a very high de- 
gree of importance on maturity. They 
admire poise and self-confidence, sta- 
bility, justice, and fairness. They seem 
to be a little tired of teachers who are 
too permissive. They want a disciplin- 
arian, but they want discipline to be 
in a spiritual atmosphere by one they 
can look up to as a personal example. 

The students who participated in the 
Mitchell survey listed knowledge as the 
skill of greatest importance. While 
some may wonder at knowledge being 
thought of as a skill rather than a 
trait, this may be understandable if 
one thinks in terms of the goals and 
desires of teens rather than those of 
adults. The young people reflect their 



66 



desire for a knowledgeable teacher who 
is prepared and organized in order that 
he might be able to give them excellent 
and interesting lessons. But at the same 
time, they want to be taught by some- 
one who likes to teach. They want 
teachers who enjoy the process or ex- 
perience of instructing others, who 
teach with enthusiasm and friendliness; 
and they want to be stimulated to learn 
in a cheerful or happy situation. 

The third large category into which 
one might logically place the student 
responses is somewhat more difficult to 
describe in one word. The responses 
reflected concern about the ability or 
inclination of a teacher to empathize 
with them in order that there would 
be a good rapport. This presupposes 
that the teacher is genuinely interested 
in his students, that he encourages 
them and is considerate of and coop- 
erative with them. It also includes the 
idea that he is able to teach on their 
level, provides for student differences, 
and is willing to consider student opin- 
ions. They seem to feel that if a teacher 
is really interested in them, he will be 
adaptable to their needs and interests. 
Important lessons may be learned 
from the above concepts: 

The first is that young people want 
to learn. Adults frequently hear them 
complain about a particular teacher's 
lack of discipline. While youth may, 
and undoubtedly do, want discipline 
for its own sake, the real basis for their 
complaint is not so much the lack of 
order as the lack of a favorable learn- 
ing situation. Poor discipline destroys 
one's chance to learn, and so classes 
may be thought of as "a waste of time" 
or a "big joke." Students resent this 
kind of "nothingness" in the classroom, 
and it becomes intolerable to most of 
them. 

Another lesson of importance is that 
as far as religious education is con- 
cerned, the teacher — his personality, 
character, degree of spirituality, and 
procedure — is of great importance to 
the learners. Young people want ex- 
emplary leadership in the personalities 
who teach them. In this respect they 
are a present reminder of an adult's 
nostalgic reminiscences of teachers 
whose subject matter has long been 
forgotten but whose influence is still 
felt. And while this is true to some 
degree in all teaching, it is especially 
true and dramatically needful in the 
field of religious education. Students 
have less inclination to analyze the 
character of their language teacher, for 
example, because language is only a 
means of conveyance, and the means 
or art of communication is the impor- 
tant lesson to learn. But this is not 
true in religious education. Since re- 
ligion is a way of life, the conveyer of 



this way of life — the teacher, preacher, 
missionary, leader — is part and parcel 
of the lesson itself. Teachers in the 
Church, although without pretense of 
being the ideal, are nevertheless an im- 
portant aspect of lesson content. 

The admiration a student may feel 
toward a teacher because of his strength 
of character or spirituality is closely re- 
lated to a third idea that may be 
drawn from an analysis of surveys such 
as that of Mitchell. Successful teachers 
not only have stability and strength of 
character, but they are also human. 
Inclinations are that students feel more 
comfortable with teachers who are also 
struggling toward perfection. They 
want teachers who are humble and 
flexible enough to be close to them, 
with good rapport, cheerfulness, and 
understanding. In other words, they 
want teachers who are in their world 
to some degree, but not of it. Young 
people desire teachers whose flexibility 
enables them to be admired but not 
removed, teachers who relate easily and 
naturally to them and their problems 
so that communication is open and 
unstrained. 

Students attach considerable impor- 
tance to their desire for a cheerful 
learning atmosphere and a teacher 
with a sense of humor. While the 
latter characteristic may be considered 
an aspect of maturity, it is obvious that 
individuals who have a sense of humor 
are almost always flexible. It would 
appear, therefore, that students need to 
feel that the teacher is flexible enough 
that they can imagine him living in 
their world and feeling their feelings 
and thinking their thoughts. 

It would appear that a necessary pre- 
requisite to having students think of 
their teachers in wholesome, healthy 
ways is for teachers to think of them- 
selves in these ways. In other words, 
the self-concept of the teacher must be 
positive if students are to react positive- 
ly to him. Teachers who think of them- 
selves as adequate, wanted, capable, 
and worthy of being followed are more 
acceptable to young people. This op- 
timism about self seems to be reflected 
in attitudes about those they teach. 
Under these circumstances students are 
inclined to feel that they are accepted 
for what they are, respected for what 
they have achieved, and challenged to 
live up to their full potential. 

What do teenagers want from a 
teacher? They want teachers who are 
mature, knowledgeable, and empathet- 
ic. They want an opportunity to learn, 
a model to follow, and a warm rela- 
tionship with an individual flexible 
enough to be both accepting and help- 
ful. Perhaps adults would profit by 
listening to teenagers' ideas of what 
they want from a teacher. O 



Era, October 1970 67 



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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84107 



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Now available in response to many requests- — 

™ iOTOf GOSPEL STANDARDS 

Only $4.95 postpaid. Order from The Improvement Era 
79 South State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 

and at book dealers everywhere 



by President Heber J. Grant 



Today's Family 



Have a Family 



By Mary Ellen MacArthur 

Illustrated by Ginger Brown 




• It was a bitterly cold night in the 
northern California campground 
where we were spending a late fall 
vacation, and we were huddled 
close together in our tent for 
warmth. Searching in a duffle bag, 
I found one of the library books I'd 
chosen before our departure for 
reading aloud. The children, then 
six and four, peered at the illus- 
trations by lantern-light while I 
read The Bears of Hemlock Moun- 



Mary Ellen Romney MacArthur, a 
Sunday School teacher in the East 
Pasadena (California) Ward, is a 
journalism graduate of Stanford 
University. She and her husband, 
Thomas D. MacArthur, have three 
children. 



tain by Alice Dalgliesh, a charming 
retelling of an old Pennsylvania 
Dutch folktale. 

This charming book tells about 
Benjy, who crossed the mountain to 
borrow a big pot from his aunt. He 
is told by his father and uncles 
that there is nothing to be afraid of 
in the woods. So when Benjy acci- 
dentally finds himself lost after 
dark, with something that sounds 
very bear-like following him, he 
keeps humming to himself, 

"There are no bears on Hemlock 

Mountain. 
No bears, no bears 
No bears at all."' 



Finally he hides under the big pot 
until his father and uncles find 
him there, surrounded by bear 
tracks. 

The thought of Benjy in the 
woods with a bear snuffling around 
him sent a prickly shiver down all 
our spines as we cozied into our 
sleeping bags in the woods. But 
just two nights later, camped in a 
nearly deserted Yosemite National 
Park site, we were awakened in the 
middle of the night by an awesome 
sound of snuffling, growling, and 
crunching, just inches from our 
tent. We lay paralyzed in the dark, 
listening, and afraid to move. It 
seemed a very long time until a 



68 




noise scared the bears and off they 
ran (having cleaned out our ice 
chest), actually bumping into a 
corner of our tent in their flight. 
We continued silently lying there 
for a minute more, trying to resume 
breathing, when my husband softly 
said, "There are no bears on Hem- 
lock Mountain— no bears, no bears, 
no bears at all." We all burst into 
weak giggles. Ever since, "There 
are no bears ..." has been a fam- 
ily password for "whistling in the 
dark." 

This is just one of the precious 
experiences we have shared through 
the years as a result of reading 
aloud to our children. What a 



world of fun and learning we have 
available to us through books! And 
yet how easy it is to let the oppor- 
tunities to read together slip by. 

As mothers, most of us work hard 
to prepare a balanced diet for our 
children, trying to make sure we 
include foods from each of the 
basic food groups each day. But 
intellectually, how many of our 
children live consistently on a diet 
of TV cartoons, comic books, and 
cheap dime-store non-books— the 
nutritional equivalent of potato 
chips and soft drinks? We cannot 
expect school alone to instill a love 
for the valuable in our culture. Our 
example, our tastes, and our en- 
thusiasm are going to be much 
more influential in the long run. 

Most of us find it relatively easy 
to read to our firstborn children 
when they are little and our time is 
less pressured. It is such fun to 
cuddle a two-year-old before bed 
and read a classic such as Marjorie 
Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon. 
"Goodnight stars, goodnight air, 
goodnight noises everywhere."- The 
challenge in reading together comes 
when our families are older and 
busier and more widespread in age. 

"Why read to my older children, 
who can read well by themselves?" 
you may ask. For one thing, edu- 
cators tell us that for most children 
there are many years when the 
interest level is far above reading 
ability. Even when a child can, 
with effort, read all the "hard 
words," it is a while before reading 
becomes easy and relaxed enough 
to be fun. Perhaps an even more 
compelling reason, for Latter-day 
Saint families, is the sharing of 
special experiences— the drawing 
together of the family unit. What 
a pleasure it is to sit with our 
children closely gathered around 
us! 

Our family's longest and most 
exciting reading project started 
several years ago when I came 



Era, October 1970 69 



'sPm 



THE MORNING 
BREAKS 

Historical sections of the 
Mormon story, featuring 
the Mormon Tabernacle 
Choir. Richard L. Evans 
narrates the film with a 
prologue by the famed 
newscaster and traveler, 
Lowell Thomas. 



~j# 



■4*12 M&.-M 



BYU EDUCATIONAL 
MEDIA SERVICES 

Herald R Clark Building 

Brigham Young University 

Provo Utah 84601 

1801)374 1211 Eil =2713 

DESERET BOOK COMPANY 

Film Department 

44 Easl Soutn Temple 

Salt Lake City Utah 84111 

(801) 3288191 

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225 First Street 

Idaho Falls Idaho 83401 

(208) 523 4682 

BYU BAY AREA 

FILM CENTER 

c o Association Films. Inc 

25358 Cypress Avenue 

Havward. California 94544 

(415) 783 0100 

BYU LOS ANGELES 

FILM CENTER 

c o Association Films. Inc 

2221 South Olive Street 

Los Angeles. California 90007 

(213) 749 7165 



BYU SOUTHWESTERN 
FILM CENTER 

c o Movie Center of Ihe West 

601 North 4th Avenue 

Tucson. Arizona 85705 

(602) 623 5853 

BYU CANADIAN 

FILM CENTER 

2300 23rd Avenue South 

Lethbridge. Alberta 

Canada 

(403) 328 1492 

BYU EASTERN 

FILM CENTER 

c o Association Films. Inc 

600 Grand Avenue 

Ridgefield. N I, 07657 

(201) 943 8200 NYC res 

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BYU MIDWESTERN 

FILM CENTER 

c o Association Films Inc 

512 Burlington Street 

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(312)352 3377 



Order from your nearest 
branch library 

For additional information 

write to: 

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY 

EDUCATIONAL MEDIA SERVICE 

BOX 10, 

HERALD R. CLARK BUILDING 

PROVO, UTAH 84601 



across a copy of Laura Ingalls 
Wilder's book Little House in the 
Big Woods, which I had read and 
loved in my childhood. We read 
that first volume of her eight-book 
series, and we all started living 
double lives— our own and Laura's, 
who lived 100 years ago! Mrs. 
Wilder's remarkable story of her 
growing-up years is one of the best 
examples of books that appeal to 
nearly everyone. The Ingalls fam- 
ily settled on the fringes of Amer- 
ica's last frontier, and Laura's 
girlhood was marked by many 
moves and hardships. But the un- 
failing high standards of obedience, . 
courtesy, and love that character- 
ized her family made deep impres- 
sions on my children. 

"Pa lifted Mary up out of her 
chair, and hugged both [her and 
Laura] together. 

"You're my good girls," he said. 
"And now it's bedtime. Run along, 
while I get my fiddle." 

"When Laura and Mary had said 
their prayers and were tucked 
snugly under the trundle bed's cov- 
ers, Pa was sitting in the firelight 
with the fiddle. Ma had blown out 
the lamp because she did not need 
its light. On the other side of the 
hearth she was swaying gently in 
her rocking chair and her knitting 
needles flashed in and out above 
the sock she was knitting. 

"The long winter evenings of 
firelight and music had come 
again." 3 

We moved on with Laura through 
succeeding volumes; it took several 
years to read them all, with some 
time out for our having a new 
baby and other family projects. 
When we began Those Happy, 
Golden Years,* the last book in the 
series, we all felt the sadness of 
Laura's being grown up enough to 
marry and leave her family, but 
even worse was the knowledge that 
there weren't any more volumes to 
look forward to! 



70 



I would never have believed that 
my restless ten-year-old son would 
sit enthralled by the story of a 
turn-of-the-century romance. But 
Mrs. Wilder's concise, vivid style 
makes it all seem so immediate and 
real. Whether she is describing 
how to build a log cabin or how to 
sew a fashionable dress with a 
bustle, she is making a whole era 
of American history live for our 
children. And how priceless are 
the values of hard work, honesty, 
and family love and respect she 
celebrates! 

There are many such wonderful 
books for all ages that your family 
can share. For a younger family, 
A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh 5 is 
a durable favorite. A modern chil- 
dren's classic is E. B. White's 
Charlotte's Web. You may be sur- 
prised by these realistically talking 
animals, but the book has some- 
thing valuable to say about life and 
death. The magical, haughty Mary 
Poppins, 7 so different from her 
movie self, is a fun read-aloud book 
for grade schoolers. And for older 
children and adults, The Hobbit* 
is a marvelous introduction to the 
fantasy world created by J. R. R. 
Tolkien, complex yet ingenuous. 



For something more boy-oriented, 
Ralph Moody's Little Britches, 9 set 
in the southwest United States, be- 
gins another autobiographical series 
for slightly older families. Rascal, 10 
by Sterling North, is about a boy 
and his pet raccoon and captures 
the era of World War I while tell- 
ing an unforgettable story. For a 
complete change of pace, try the 
story of Roosevelt Grady 11 by 
Louisa R. Shotwell. This book 
vividly portrays the life and dreams 
of the small black son of migrant 
workers in the South. 

Fiction isn't the only good ma- 
terial for reading aloud. Holling C. 
Holling's lavishly illustrated nature 
books, such as Paddle-to-the-Sea 1 - 
and Pagoo, 1 '' teach geography and 
biology in a most readable manner. 
We shared a memorable home 
evening with another family when 
they found a film in our library's 
loan collection on how Pagoo was 
written. We then read the story of 
Pagoo, the hermit crab, with great 
interest. 

Two more books with universal 
appeal are Scott O'Dell's Island of 
the Blue Dolphins 14 and Madeleine 
L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. 15 The 
first is a fictionalized account of an 




Indian girl left alone on a Cali- 
fornia offshore island and is based 
on historical fact— "sad in a happy 
way," as my daughter called it. A 
Wrinkle in Time really has some- 
thing for everyone. It is fantasy 
and science fiction and at the same 
time is peopled with fascinating 
characters with real problems. The 
concept of free agency is beauti- 
fully presented, and I guarantee 
you'll let the children stay up an 
extra half hour so you can see how 
it ends. (No fair peeking while 
they're at school! ) 

What are the hardest things 
about reading aloud? First, choos- 
ing the right books. Don't be afraid 
to ask at your local library for help; 
children's librarians love to talk 
about their business. Second, find- 
ing the time to read. The phone 
rings, the television goes on, the 
children dash off to meetings or to 
do homework. But make the time- 
perhaps start on a vacation, when 
you have more free time— and 
you'll soon find that homework 
magically gets done, baths are hur- 
ried, and the audience will be there 
if you promise them half an hour 
of reading before bed. But don't 
ask me how to get them into bed. 
I, too, always want "just one more 
chapter!" O 

FOOTNOTES 

1 Alice Dalgliesh, Bears of Hemlock Moun- 
tain (New York: Scribner's, 1952). 

2 Marjorie Wise Brown, Goodnight Moon 
(New York: Harper, 1947). 

3 Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the 
Big Woods (New York: Harper, 1932). 

4 Laura Ingalls Wilder, These Happy, Golden 
Years (New York: Harper, 1943). 

5 A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh ( New York, 
Dutton, 1926). 

E. B. White, Charlotte's Web (New York: 
Harper, 1952). 

7 P. L. Travers, Mary Poppins (New York: 
Reynal, 1934). 

8 J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hohbit (Boston: 
Houghton-Mifflin, 1938). 

!) Ralph Moody, Little Britches (New York: 
Norton, 1950). 

10 Sterling North, Rascal (New York: Dut- 
ton, 1963). 

u Louisa R. Shotwell, Roosevelt Grady 
(Cleveland: World, 1963). 

12 Holling C. Holling, Paddle-to-the-Sea (Bos- 
ton: Houghton-Mifflin, 1941). 

13 Holling C. Holling, Pagoo (Boston: Hough- 
ton-Mifflin, 1957). 

14 Scott O'Dell, Island of the Blue Dolphins 
(Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1960). 

15 Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time 
(New York: Farrar, 1962). 



Era, October 1970 71 




A sweet treat recipe from 



CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE 



C^W^i^*^^^, 



2 squares unsweetened 

chocolate 

3 tablespoons butter 
% cup granulated 

U AND I SUGAR 
1 cup light corn syrup 



3 eggs slightly beaten 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 cup coarsely chopped 

pecan meats 
1 unbaked 9" pie shell 
V2 cup whipping cream, 

whipped 



Melt chocolate and butter over hot water. Combine sugar and syrup in 
saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. 
Boil 2 minutes. Add chocolate mixture. Pour slowly over egg, stirring 
constantly. Add vanilla and nuts, pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake 375°, 
45 to 50 minutes, or until filling is puffed completely across top. 
Cool and top with whipped cream and pecan halves. Yield: 1 9" pie. 



U and I Sugar Company 



Factories in Garland and West Jordan, Utah; near Idaho Falls, 
Idaho; Moses Lake and Toppenish, Washington. 



The Presiding Bishop Discusses 
How the Church Helps Youth 
Meet the Problems of Today 



• Our leaders have told us that 
this is a choice generation. Presi- 
dent Wilford Woodruff said, "The 
Lord has chosen a small number 
of choice spirits of the sons and 
daughters out of all the creation 
of God, who are to inherit this 
earth; and this company of choice 
spirits have been kept in the spirit 
world for six thousand years to 
come forth in the last days, to 
stand in the flesh in this last dis- 
pensation of the fulness of times, 
to organize the Kingdom of God 
upon the earth, to build it up and 
to defend it. . . ." (Our Lineage, 
p. 4.) 

It is easy to see why the Lord 
has held back choice spirits to 
come forth at this time. The task 
at hand demands valiant and ded- 
icated souls to carry forth the 
kingdom of God, that the kingdom 
of heaven might be established. 

The environment in which this 
must be achieved could, in many 
respects, hardly be worse. Social 
values and moral guidelines have 
been largely erased. Political lead- 
ers, educators, and even church- 
men have denied the validity of 
the rules for living found in the 
scriptures, ancient and modern. 



By Bishop John H. Vandenberg 

Short-sighted conclusions based 
on the limited reasoning powers 
of men have been substituted for 
the eternal wisdom perspective of 
God. Physical science has moved 
ahead so rapidly and become so 
proficient that many young people 
have lost track of God. Pseudo- 
sciences have arisen that pretend 
to determine the values and stan- 
dards upon which the youth are 
urged to base their morals and 
ethics. Young people are constant- 
ly being enticed by the siren calls 
of so-called "activists" who would 
solve the social and political prob- 
lems of the world through lawless- 
ness, violence, anarchy, or the de- 
struction of man's free agency. 

These forces deny man's divine 
origin, the purpose of his earth 
life, and the possibility of an ex- 
istence beyond the grave. 

It has been said this is the gen- 
eration of "instant everything." 
The patience and effort put forth 
in previous generations to achieve 
happiness have been replaced to 
a disturbing degree by dependence 
on the effortless effects of chemo- 
therapy. Pills to wake up, to ener- 
gize, to calm down, to put to sleep, 
and supposedly even to enable a 



person to look inside himself and 
see his spirit or to make contact 
with whatever spiritual forces he 
feels are in the universe are sold 
legally and illegally by the hun- 
dreds of millions. 

Because of the greater availabil- 
ity of all kinds of information and 
the stress that is put upon formal 
education today, young people are 
ready early in life for an enlarged 
measure of participation and re- 
sponsibility in the religious, social, 
and political activities of their 
world. Unless they can find within 
the Church a way to apply their 
strength and energy to the solution 
of the problems of their lives and 
the world in which they live, our 
young people may seek avenues 
outside the Church to make their 
contribution. They should have the 
opportunity, as early in life as pos- 
sible, to experience activities and 
relationships within the Church on 
a satisfying spiritual plane. They 
must experience early in life, 
through their priesthood and 
auxiliary activities, the lasting joys 
of true spirituality that come from 
personal effort and sacrifice for 
others. Only then will they be 
strong enough to withstand the 



72 



body- and soul-destroying forces 
that surround them. 

President David 0. McKay af- 
firmed the importance of such 
training when he said, "The spiri- 
tuality of a ward will be commen- 
surate with the activity of the youth 
in that ward. The president of the 
priests quorum is the bishop, by 
ordination, and it is his duty to 
have theconfidence of those young 
men and girls of corresponding 
age, for they will mold the moral 
atmosphere of his ward." 

The Church is prepared to meet 
the challenge. Through the family 
home evening and the home 
teaching programs, parents today 
are given help and guidance in 
providing the person-to-person re- 
lationships and home environment 
necessary to develop the desired 
motives, loyalties, and convictions 
in the lives of their children to 
withstand the moral and spiritual 
buffeting of a world that is satu- 
rated with sensualism. 

The Aaronic Priesthood Personal 
Achievement Program and the 
comparable program for young 
women give the young people ex- 
perience in setting their own per- 
sonal goals. Through this exercise 
of individual responsibility they 
will develop strength of character, 
as well as greater communication 
with parents and Church leaders. 

The appointment of the Presid- 
ing Bishopric as the scouting com- 
mittee of the Church will bring 
scouting into a more effective 
auxiliary relationship as the activ- 
ity program of the Aaronic Priest- 
hood and will strengthen adult 
leadership in both the priesthood 
and scouting structures. 

Daily religious instruction 
through the seminary and insti- 
tute programs is given to approxi- 
mately 140,000 young members of 
the Church all over the world. 
Through this daily contact with one 
another, studying and learning to 
apply the scripture teachings, 



these students are enabled to re- 
new their determination to with- 
stand the temptations to which 
they are subjected. 

One of the most effective tools 
the Church has provided for youth 
participation and leadership devel- 
opment is the bishop's youth com- 
mittee. Its main function is to im- 
prove the effectiveness of Aaronic 
Priesthood and auxiliary programs 
by giving young people maximum 
opportunity to suggest ways and 
means to use the programs locally. 
Through the bishop's youth com- 
mittee the energy of youth can be 
guided to build faith and testimony 
in the future leaders of the Church. 

An example of the effectiveness 
of the proper use of the bishop's 
youth committee was demonstrat- 
ed in the recent success of the 
"Good Samaritan" project held in 
the Salt Lake City area, where the 
youth of the Church were called 
upon to raise funds to help build a 
meetinghouse for another denom- 
ination. Representatives of those 
who participated expressed them- 
selves as being excited about the 
project and grateful for the oppor- 
tunity to prove that they could be 
depended upon to come up with 
excellent ideas and carry them out. 
They worked hard, and when it was 
over they were surprised to dis- 
cover an added dividend in the in- 
creased love and understanding 
for their fellow workers as well as 
for those they served. 

Young people are concerned 
about the needs of their fellowmen 
and sincerely want to help them. 
They are idealistic and impression- 
able. The Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-day Saints, therefore, is 
providing them with the opportu- 
nities they need to learn service 
and sacrifice within the framework 
of the priesthood and auxiliaries. 
When they are in the service of 
God and their fellowmen, they have 
a shield against the wiles of 
Satan. o 



Era, October 1970 73 




HELP! 



This is when your insurance man 
has to go to work for you . To make 
sure he will, make sure now he's 
an independent insurance agent. 
His job is to serve you first when 
you need help most. We're inde- 
pendent agents. Call us any time. 



you &/ Mndependenr 
. Insurance § /agent t 

SERVES VOU FIRST 



HEBER J. GRANT & CO. 

General Agents, Salt Lake City 



SELL THIS FLAVOR-SEALED 
PEANUT BRITTLE AND MAKE 

$50 to $500 CASH 

FOR YOUR CHURCH, SCHOOL, CLUB 




$50.00 CASH every time 10 members of your 
group each sell 10 cans of Old-Fashioned Pea- 
nut Brittle at $1.00 per can. 
100% MARK-UP! This delicious Peanut 
Brittle, in new easy-open cans, costs your group 
only 50c each and sells for $1.00! 
NO INVESTMENT! NOT EVEN lc! Order 120 
to 1200 cans today. Take up to 30 days to 
send payment. Give your name, title, phone 
number and complete* address, the name, ad- 
dress, etc. of 2nd officer, name of group, 
quantity desired, and nearest Freight Office 
(no parcel post). We ship F.O.B., Birmingham 
with EXTRAS INCLUDED FREE to cover 
shipping cost. Orders accepted groups only. 



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$11.75 Postpaid West of Rockies 
$12.75 Postpaid East of Rockies 
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Extra Grinding Plates — $1.95 Set Postpaid 
Special prices to church groups. 
We also have breadmixers, juicers, and other useful items. 




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Church Magazines 
Conversion Rules 

• The following are rules the 
Church Magazine Office is using 
to apply the Era, Instructor, and 
Relief Society credits toward the 
new adult magazine. 

The subscriber's name and ad- 
dress as it appears on the Era file 
will be used for the adult magazine. 
The Era file is being used as the 
base for the adult file. The months 
remaining on an Instructor sub- 
scription and a Relief Society 
Magazine subscription will be 
added to the Era subscription. 

The number of adult magazines 
a subscriber receives will be de- 
termined by the number of Eras 
being received. If a person is not 
receiving an Era, the number of 
adult magazines he receives will be 
determined by the number of In- 
structors being received. If a per- 
son is not receiving the Era or In- 
structor, the number of adult 
magazines he receives will be de- 
termined by the number of Relief 
Society Magazines being received. 
In the case of institutional sub- 
scribers, such as seminaries, insti- 
tutes, and ward libraries, the 
number of adult magazines they 
will receive will be determined by 
the largest number they are re- 
ceiving of either the Era or the 
Instructor. 

Following are samples of typical 
situations encountered in the com- 
bining of Era and Instructor sub- 
scriptions. The rule being followed 
in each case is stipulated. While it 
is realized that on occasion these 
may not be the actions subscribers 
desire, rules have to be adopted 
that would seem to apply in most 
cases. Where a particular example 
fits your situation and the action 
taken isn't what is desired, write 
and tell the Church Magazine Of- 
fice what you want done, and your 
wishes will be followed. 



74 



If the complete name and address are exactly the same on the Instructor 
and Era lists, the remaining months of the Instructor beyond December will 
be added to the Era by the computor. 



SAMPLE 



Era Subscription List 



Instructor Subscription List 



84302HUME-216E017 
OLIVE A HUME 
216 E 3rd S 
BRIGHAM CITY 



OCT70 84302HUME-216EO17 JAN72 

OLIVE A HUME 
216 E 3rd S 
UT 84302 BRIGHAM CITY UT 84302 



2. If the last name and address (house number and/or box number) are the 
same, these will be combined. 



84302JPPS1163RR17 
RALPH JEPPSON 
RT 1 Box 163 
BRIGHAM CITY 



SAMPLE 

MAR71 84302JPPS1163RA19 NOV74 

ALVIN R JEPPSON 
RT 1 BOX 163 
UT 84302 BRIGHAM CITY UT 84302 



3. In rural areas, where house or box numbers are not used, if the names, 
including the initials, are exactly the same, these will be combined. 



84302VLCRN259RJ15 
JOHN VALCAREE 
RT 2 BOX 59 
BRIGHAM CITY 



SAMPLE 

NOV70 84302VLCROHN2RJ17 FEB71 

JOHN VALCAREE 
RT 2 
UT 84302 BRIGHAM CITY UT 84302 



4. If the names are exactly the same but one has a box number and the other 
has no box number, these will be combined. 



84314BNGHDA148F10 
FRED A BINGHAM 
BOX 14 
HONEYVILLE 



SAMPLE 

OCT70 84314BINGHAMFRE17 FEB72 

FRED A BINGHAM 

HONEYVILLE UT 84314 

UT 84314 



5. If the names are exactly the same but one has a box number and a route 
number and the other has a route number only, these will be combined. 

SAMPLE 



84302GVVS2338RN15 APR71 

NOEL GIBBS 

RT 2 BOX 338 

BRIGHAM CITY UT 84302 



843020BBS-EL2RN12 MAR71 

NOEL GIBBS 

RT 2 

BRIGHAM CITY UT 84302 



6. If the names are exactly the same and both have the same route number 
and one has a box number or house number, these will be combined. In 
rural areas, subscriptions will not be combined unless the names are exactly 
the same. (Exception: Mrs. has been added to one name, such as Fred Jones 
and Mrs. Fred Jones.) *- 



Era, October 1970 75 



NOW AVAILABLE 

New rotating can food shelving units. 
For home daily use and storage. 

Save Money — Buy by the case — No 
spoilage by rotating — If moving, 
take unit. 

Easy to get at- — convenient. 




Apartment Renters 

Mobile Home Owners 
New and Old Home Owners 

Save money on your new shelving plus save 
space. The CEDASTOR units cost less than 

it would cost you to build shelving out of 
wood to accommodate the same volume of 
cans. 

$19.95 

Length 28", Width 21", Height 23". 

Four models to choose from — 
each holding 5y 2 or more cases 
in a variety of can sizes. 

Ask about our low priced hand made cedar chests. 

CEDASTOR COMPANY 

P. 0. Box 11357, Salt Lake City, Utah 
Phone (801) 292-0745 




BUSINESS 
OPPORTUNITIES 

A CHANCE OF A LIFETIME TO 
HAVE A FABULOUS BUSINESS OF 
YOUR OWN — No investment re- 
quired — Full or part time — Men 
or Women — No age limitation. Write 
at once for details. Address OPPOR- 
TUNITY, P. 0. BOX 2224, Salt Lake 
City, Utah 84110. 




Pure elegance of line, cut and design, this 
Special Session Dress is beautifully tradi- 
tional with lace yoke and cuffs. Expressly 
created for both slender and full figures. 
Wear newly belted or flowing free. Ad- 
justable lace collar . . . hidden back zipper 
. . . slash pockets. 1 00% Nylon tricot and 
lace. P,S,M,L,XL. No. SSD-E. 



$24.00 



See Your Local 

Le Voy's Consultant 

or 

Mail Check or M.O. 

Postpaid in U.S.A. 



Matching Slip. 30 
to 38. *6245. $12.00 




A 



2511 S.W. Temple * Salt Lake City, Utah 84115 



84302ERCKA102BE14 
EMMA ERICKSON 
BOX 102 
BRIGHAM CITY 



SAMPLE 

OCT70 



UT 84302 



84302ERCKA102BE14 
EMMA ERICKSON 
BOX 102 
115 E 7TH S 
BRIGHAM CITY 



OCT73 



UT 84302 



7. If there are two Era subscriptions with the same address and one Instructor 
subscription with the same address but different first names, the remaining 
months on the Instructor will be divided between the two Era subscriptions. 



SAMPLE 



84302GRAY-348N811 
BRYAN GRAY 
348 N 5TH E 
BRIGHAM CITY 

84302GRAY-348NP18 
PAM GRAY 
348 N 5th E 
BRIGHAM CITY 



OCT70 



UT 84302 



OCT 70 



UT 84302 



84302GRAY-348NEL 
EARL L GRAY 
348 N 5th E ST 
BRIGHAM CITY 



JUL71 



UT 84302 



8. If there are two Instructor subscriptions and one Era subscription with the 
same last name, same address but different first names, the two Instructor 
subscriptions will be combined and added to the Era subscription. 



84302CEFL-294LR12 
RON CEFALO 
294 LINDA WAY 
BRIGHAM CITY 



SAMPLE 

OCT71 84302CEFL-294LM16 MAR71 

MARILYN R CEFALO 
294 LINDA WAY 
UT 84302 BRIGHAM CITY UT 84302 

84302CEFL-294LL19 JUN71 

LOUISE MILLER CEFALO 

294 LINDA WAY 

BRIGHAM CITY UT 84302 



9. If there are two Instructor subscriptions with the same name and one has 
only a town address and the other has a box number, and an Era subscription 
with the same last name and box number, the two with the box number 
will be combined and the one with only a town address will be added to the 
adult magazine file. 

SAMPLE 



84310KMMYON848H19 NOV70 

DON KAMMEYER 

BOX 84 

BRIGHAM CITY UT 84302 



84310KAMMEYEDON16 
DON KAMMEYER 
BRIGHAM CITY 



84310KMMYON84BD1A 
DON KAMMEYER 
BOX 84 
BRIGHAM CITY 



FEB71 



UT 84302 



FEB71 



UT 84302 



76 



Thoughts 

While Resting 

On a Green Hill 

By Evalyn M. Sandberg 

This single shaft 

of wild oats 

just inches from my eye 

seems larger than the 

mountain 

that fans 

the high, cool sky. 

An isolated 

instant's 

proximity to me 

looms larger 

than all mortal life 

and dwarfs eternity. 



Homecoming 
By Mildred V. Barthel 

As soon as 

I opened the door, 
Her warm voice, 
Vibrant with good humor 
That bubbled up from a 
Deep source of goodness, 
Welcomed me home 
To confide 
The rancor that the 
School day might have had, 
To share a joke 

on childhood, 
To smell supper coming. 
Even our silences 
Spoke caring 

and the growing 
Of whole lives. 



Era, October 1970 77 




Wheat is tor man. Retain the valuable 
nutrients lost through other milling 
methods. Use the wheat you now have 
stored and save money while enjoying 
better tasting, more nutritious food. 



Buy an 

All Grain Stone Grinding 
Flour Mill 

Today 

Immediate Delivery 

Also available: High protein wheat for 
use or storage. 

For full information, write: 

ALL-GRAIN FLOUR MILL 

Dept. E P.O. Box 115 
Tremonton, Utah 84337 

Openings available for full or part-time 
sales representatives. 



If there is a book 

any booh- 
ash us about it. 

We specialize in out-of-print 
LDS and Utah publications. 

HON BOOK STORE 

254 So. Main 
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 





COX'S DELICIOUS 

Creamed Money 

one of the best in the U.S. 



Special Holiday 

Gift Boxes 

for Welfare 

Storage Purposes ■HH 

(Write for 

Free Brochure) 

COX HONEY FARMS 

Shelley, Idaho 83274 



BEEF JERKY 

An ideal gift for missionaries and 
servicemen. A companion food for 
survival kits and low moisture food 
storage. Has meat protein for a 
rounded diet. Ease of storage makes 
it ideal for back packing, hunters, 
fishermen, and an essential for the 
snowmobile emergency kit. 

The perfect all protein snack for 
dieters. 

Store food the way the Pioneers did — 
no refrigeration needed. 

4 oz. pkg. $1.99 plus 25c hand. chg. 
8 oz. pkg. $3.90 plus 33c " 
12 oz. pkg. $5.75 plus 39c " 



Utah residents adrt 4V 



THE SMOKEHOUSE 

P. O. BOX 342 
BOUNTIFUL, UTAH 84010 



SPAIN — PORTUGAL 



from 



$499 



Departs Las Vegas and Salt Lake 
February 28, 1971 for 15 days. 

Includes hotels, round trip air 
fare, sightseeing and a special 
golf tournament. 

Send for your free folder now 



HAHTER 



CavtT 



OURS 



P.O. Box 2387 
Las Vegas, Nevada 89104 



THE WHEAT KERNEL 

Food Storage Specialists 
Extensive line of dependable food items 
and supplies at reasonable prices for 
Food Storage 
Camping and Sports 
Survival Products 
Health Foods 
Grinding Mills, etc. 
Let us help you tailor your food plan to 
fit your, own individual or family needs. 
Compare our prices and quality. 
Send for free catalogs. 

THE WHEAT KERNEL, 7554 Katella, 

Stanton, (Near Disneyland) Calif. 90680 

Phone (714) 828-8421 




The secret of 
teaching yourself music 

Learn guitar, piano, organ, etc. at home, in 
spare time. Play simple, familiar pieces first, 
then more advanced music. Clear text, big 
pictures and remarkable Note-Finder (above) 
help you learn quickly. Join 1,300,000 USSM 
students. For free booklet, send name, ad- 
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State. (£1969 U.S. School of Music 




PROFESSIONAL 
BASKETBALL 
IS HERE! 




Big-time, major-league professional 
sport, American Basketball Associa- 
tion stye, will be launched in the 
Salt Palace Arena with the new 
Utah Stars playing 40 home 
games, starting on October 14 
and running thru the month of 
March. Reserve your tickets 
today for all the exciting, ex- 
plosive action by sending in 
the coupon below or tele- 
phoning us at 355-2891. 




RESERVE YOUR SEATS TODAY! 



r 



UTAH STARS 

The Salt Palace 

Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 

Phone (801) 355-2891 



'~1 



NAME 



ADDRESS 



CITY, STATE, ZIP 



PHONE 



.J 




• "I enjoyed Hamlet very much," 
said my remarkable grandfather, 
as he arrived backstage. "Queen 
Gertrude was nicely believable, 
though younger than I had ex- 
pected. But don't you think Ham- 
let's scene with the gravedigger 
should have been left in? It docu- 
ments his age and gives comic relief 
to the play." 

My grandfather is an unusual 
man. Several thousand people had 
seen the production, but he was the 
first to display a thoughtful fore- 
knowledge of the play. 

The next morning I discussed the 
performance with my wife and told 
her of grandfather's remarks. "I 
don't understand your surprise," 
she said. "You've always been 
smugly proud of your family." 

"I know," I said. "But why? Is a 
little knowledge of Hamlet so 
rare?" 

"I suppose," she replied, "it's be- 



78 



cause the classics are not so prized 
today as they once were." 

Her comment troubled me. Fi- 
nally we decided to try a modest 
experiment. Choosing two family 
members— an elderly man who had 
completed one year of high school 
work and a 25-year-old woman who 
had studied for two years in a 
modern university— we asked them 
a series of questions about classical 
subjects, such as: 

1. Describe the history of the 
House of Atreus. 

2. Who was Iphigenia? 

3. What was Agamemnon's trag- 
ic flaw? 

4. Discuss Horace's defense of 
poetry. 

5. Discuss a few aspects of Aris- 
totle's attitude toward the artist. 

6. Name ten plays written by 
Shakespeare. 

7. Who was the beloved of 
Dante? 




By Dr. Lael J. Woodbury 

Of course, neither gave all correct 
answers. But we learned that for 
each correct answer offered by the 
young woman, five were given by 
the man! He was obviously more 
widely read than she in classic 
subjects. Furthermore, he could 
recite scenes and segments from 
Greek plays and poems from 
memory. 

Why? Natural male superiority? 
My wife doesn't think so. Matu- 
rity? The man hadn't attended 
school for almost forty years. 

Apparently, we decided, his 
generation simply assumed that a 
knowledge of the classic arts is 
worth acquiring. Then, as now, the 
word and knowledge of God was 
the fundamental preoccupation of a 
Latter-day Saint. But then it was 
understood, possibly more than 
now, that God's influence is mani 
fest in everything beautiful and 
lovely, as suggested in the thir- 



teenth Article of Faith, and that the 
arts' basic mission is to refine, 
sensitize, enlighten, and inspire the 
spirit of man, and make him more 
like his Father in heaven. 

Forty years ago, this concept of 
culture directly influenced a stu- 
dent's approach to education. He 
was taught little about accumulat- 
ing money and much about its 
proper use. He studied why we 
live, not just how we live. From the 
classic dramas, he learned that 
man, under duress, will reveal sub- 
lime examples of spiritual strength; 
and in the process, he discovered 
inspiring parallels between the 
superhumanness of handcart pio- 
neers and Greek tragic heroes. He- 
learned to compare his values with 
those of antiquity, to measure his 
own artistic achievement against 
those of other civilizations, and to 
memorize segments of classic litera- 
ture so that he would have stan- 
dards with which to evaluate 
contemporary literature. 

Since then, however, assump- 
tions about the merits of a classical 
literary education have come under 
fire. More precisely, views of what 
is civilizing have shifted to where 
our approaches toward artistic and 
spiritual refinement are unlike those 
of forty years ago. 

The cultural contrast between 
generations is illustrated in many 
talks given in the Church. The re- 
marks of elderly persons are often 
laced with poetry, dramatic quo- 
tations, classic allusions, and frag- 
ments of great orations. Often they 
can identify the exact source of the 
idea they will discuss. On the other 
hand, many young speakers refer 
to advertising jingles, fragments 
from movies, or humorous puns and 
verses. They often stress the 



Lael J. Woodbury, high councilor 
in the Sharon East Stake, is assis- 
tant dean of the College of Fine 
Arts and Communications at Brig- 
ham Young University. 



Era, October 1970 79 



Year's food 
supply 

under $200 
- way under! 

12 Same Size Prepacked Cases 
#10 cans— Low Moisture Foods 

5 Fruits, 6 Grains, 3 Protein Foods, 
8 Vegetables plus Juices, Desserts, 
Sugar, Seasoning and Extras. 

Balanced Food Supply in convenient- 
to-store cartons is scientifically pre- 
pared to fill the nutritional needs of 
one person for one full year or a 
family of 4-6 three months. 

Pick up in Salt Lake or we will ship 
freight collect. Shipping wt396 lbs. 



PERMA-PAK 

#40 East 2430 So., Salt Lake City, 
Utah 84115 • Phone (801) 486-9671 

Please send me: 

□ Sample Year's Food Supply Kit — 7 
foods, ample for 4 servings each — 
$3.95 ppd. 

□ Free Food Storage Plan CATALOG c 

□ Free Survival Kit and Camping j 
INFORMATION 

□ Free Area Representative 
Information (Earn Extra Money) 

Name 

Address 

City State Zip 



REMEMBER 



0i 



Music Co, 



327 Broadway 
Idaho Falls, Idaho 

FOR EVERYTHING MUSICAL 

CHORAL sa-ssa-ssaa-sab-satb-ttbb 
VOCAL SOLOS secular and sacred 
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PIANO METHODS 
PIANO COLLECTIONS 
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ORGAN METHODS 
ORGAN COLLECTIONS 
POPULAR VOCAL FOLIOS 
POPULAR SHEET MUSIC 

Write for new lists 
Orders filled immediately 

P. 0. BOX 2009 - ZIP 83401 



practicality of an idea rather than 
its sublimity. 

Does this sharp contrast— this 
shift from the classic to the con- 
temporary—signify that our current 
generation is without culture, stan- 
dards, or refinement? Hardly. Our 
best schools stress the importance 
of developing the whole person- 
ality (although this attitude is 



'Our ancestors' 

education pursued 

values, 

not facts only. 

They prized wisdom 

above knowledge" 



constantly subverted by those in- 
terested only in intellectual achieve- 
ment). Today's generation travels 
widely, has great mechanical abil- 
ity, and often is skilled in foreign 
languages. It knows and applies 
the demonstrable laws of the uni- 
verse, a process requiring discipline 
and reason. Automobiles, atoms, 
and asteroids are very much a part 
of its thinking. No one suggests 
that young people know less than 
their progenitors, only that their 
knowledge is of a different kind; 
and their knowledge is important 
because each generation accumu- 
lates information useful in its own 
time. 

But knowledge, we are often re- 
minded, is not the same as wisdom 
or sensitivity, nor does it automat- 
ically satisfy emotional or spiritual 
needs. A man works hard, some- 
times at work that is unpleasant, so 
that afterwards he may watch tele- 
vision, read, attend a dance, or 
bowl. He thinks of these activities 
as recreation. He uses knowledge 
so that he will have the time and 



means for aesthetic experiences that 
his technical skills do not provide. 

In the movie he weeps; at the 
dance he moves, laughs, and visits. 
If the book, movie, or conversation 
provokes thought and insight, he 
achieves satisfactions worth his 
labor. If his unscheduled time 
is pleasurable only— if it doesn't 
stretch, magnify, or inform his soul 
—he is cheated of the very reward 
for which he labored. The cultural 
arts serve that dimension of man's 
need. Society may need field hands 
more than singers of songs; but 
after the harvest, those laborers will 
give part of their wages to hear the 
songs. 

Simple songs make a simple ap- 
peal, however. Before long both 
the artist and perceiver demand 
more complex works. But because 
the classic arts are complex, they 
appear to be forbidding and 
antiquated. And so we content our- 
seves with movies, popular poetry, 
magazines, and music that are de- 
signed for diversion only— never for 
spiritual enhancement. Consequent- 
ly, we equate diversion with culture 
and thereby deprive ourselves of 
that unspeakably profound enrich- 
ment, so akin to spiritual experi- 
ence, that great art generates for 
those who perpeive it greatly. 

The alarming fact is that we are 
exposed to popular art without 
standards by which to measure it. 
Our instincts may indicate what is 
immoral, if not amoral, but then 
again, they may not. If we have 
never witnessed anything more 
serious than an adventure movie, 
if a catchy television commercial 
represents our concept of poetry, 
how can we know the awesome 
power of a great tragedy, the 
exhilarating joy of a stirring sym- 
phony, or the magnitude and drama 
of an epic poem? If we know no 
other world, we are confined to the 
world we do understand, because it 
is all we have ever known, and 



citizenship there requires no serious 
effort. 

Here is an interesting paradox: 
many people as they mature are 
converted from popular to classical 
concepts of culture but few move 
from classical to pop. Why? Be- 
cause authentic culture is wisdom 
and spiritual sensitivity. These 
qualities, once acquired, are price- 
less. And it is here, I believe, that 
our ancestors' classically oriented 
"liberal" education was especially 
praiseworthy. They pursued values, 
not facts only. They prized wisdom 
above knowledge. They analyzed 
fewer subjects and took the time 
to absorb bench mark masterworks. 

The cost of bench marks is high. 
One seldom completely enjoys a 
classic drama, painting, or poem the 
first time he encounters it. It is too 
complex, too profound. But fre- 
quent and repetitious exposure 
reveals its mood, then its colors and 
tensions, eventually its structure, 
and finally its philosophy. In time, 
key artworks become so much a 
part of the person that he measures 
all others against them, and, in a 
parallel motion, he starts to admit 
into his life only those people, arts, 
and experiences that are equally 
spiritual and profound. 

This is not speculation. Compare 
your experience with mine. I have 
never known a man who, while 
meditative and profound in his 
tastes, was frivolous in his acts and 
decisions. He could be wrong, but 
not flippant. 

Today's is not a shallow genera- 
tion, but some may misread the 
directions toward the deeper cur- 
rents of life. We all want the same 
thing— schooling in this existence 
that prepares us to live with our 
Father in heaven. We can win that 
objective by deliberately and re- 
peatedly exposing ourselves to 
artistic and intellectual achieve- 
ments that the centuries have 
tested and endorsed. O 



80 



A DIRTY EXHAUST DOES MORE 
THAN DIRTY THE AIR. 

It can waste enough fuel 
to run a second engine. 



Conoco's new 
super-cleaning additive 
is now in all 4 gasolines. 
They help keep an engine's 
breathing system (carburetor, 
valves, PCV control) clean. 
Fuel waste is reduced. 
Your engine breathes easier 
...you will, too. 

What does a dirty exhaust mean? 

That your engine is building up 
deposits that can throw your air- 
to-gasoline mixture out of whack. 
Your engine's dirty so it takes in 
more gasoline than it can burn. 
This unburned fuel goes into the 
air as dirty exhaust. 

How does cleaner-air additive help? 

The new additive is a super-cleaner 
that helps keep carburetor, valves, 
PCV emission control clean; helps 
prevent engine deposit buildup; 
helps balance air-to-fuel mixture; 
reduces unburned fuel. And that 
means a cleaner exhaust. 

Can it actually improve mileage? 

Yes. These new Conoco gasolines 
can reduce fuel waste. You burn 
less gasoline, and you get more 
miles, more ride for your money. 

Will Conoco cost more? 

Not a penny more. You pay the 
same price you've always paid for 
Conoco gasolines. 

Is the additive in all 4 gasolines? 

All 4 Conoco gasolines : Premium, 
Super, Regular, and Conotane 
now contain cleaner-air additives. 



(Look at this remarkable demonstration) 





Enough wasted fuel in this exhaust 
to run a second engine. 

The engine in the car on the right was pur- 
posely adjusted. It's running at a fast idle. The 
carburetor's set for a rich fuel mixture. Its ex- 
haust is dirty with wasted fuel. So much wasted 
fuel that it actually runs the second engine 
(left). 2750 rpm (inset) on just exhaust alone, 
no fuel line. That's a lot of mileage going up 
in dirty exhaust. 



New Conoco 
gasolines help get back 
some mileage wasted 
in your exhaust. 



Now, more than 
...more ride for 



ever 

your money. 





CONOCO 



^iy 



Hottest 

Brand 

Going. 



©1970 Continental Oil Company 




• Two parents, five brothers, and 
three sisters of the Prophet Joseph 
Smith were living at the time of 
the coming of Moroni, and each 
became a devout believer in the 
reality- of the revelations. They 
comprise a virtual jury qualified to 
evaluate the consistency of Joseph's 
early story and his personal believ- 
ability in telling it. Without dissent, 
these eleven gave total acceptance. 
The first person to believe in the 
angel's coming was the Prophet's 
father. The Prophet went to the 
field the morning after the triple 
vision of instruction, but physical 
exhaustion prevented his working. 
As he was leaving the field, the 
angel appeared to reiterate his 
message, "and commanded me to 
go to my father and tell him of 
the vision and commandments 
which I had received." 1 Lucy 
Mack Smith added a detail likely 
to have been remembered by a 
parent— that the angel was actually 
requesting an explanation for 
Joseph's not following prior instruc- 
tions to report the visions to his 
father. Joseph's answer was that 
he feared his father's skepticism; 
however, "the angel rejoined, 'He 
will believe every word you say to 
him.' " 2 One manuscript account 
adds vividness to the event. In an 



y Dr. Richard Lloyd Anderson 

Illustrated by Dale Kilbourn 

1835 conversation, the Prophet re- 
called the moment when he first 
informed his father of the angel's 
visit: "The old man wept, and told 
me that it was a vision from God, 
and to attend it." :! 

Joseph Smith, Sr., was the patri- 
arch of his family, and in at least 
one family gathering voiced for all 
a complete faith in his son's visions. 
In 1834 the Smith family and a few 
Church leaders gathered to receive 
their blessings from Joseph Smith, 
Sr., the appointed Patriarch to the 
Church. In an informal service 
preceding this semi-private meet- 
ing, the Prophet's father reviewed 
the "many afflictions" of the fam- 
ily, including some deaths, particu- 
larly that of the beloved Alvin, 
"taken from us in the vigor of life, 
in the bloom of youth." 4 The Patri- 
arch was expressing the intimate 
feelings of his entire family. 

His remarks were followed by 
prayer and then the initial bless- 
ing, given to Joseph Smith, Jr. The 
opening words reviewed the experi- 
ences now accepted by the family 
that had known the Prophet from 
boyhood: "The Lord thy God has 
called thee by name out of the 
heavens; thou hast heard his voice 
from on high from time to time, 
even in thy youth." 5 



The process by which this family 
acquired such profound conviction 
can be reconstructed through the 
detailed writings of the mother and 
younger brother of the Prophet. 
These two present significantly dif- 
ferent points of view. Certainly no 
one knew Joseph Smith, Jr., more 
intimately than his mother. But 
for all of her faith in God and the 
calling of her son, she resists the 
temptation to glorify his every act. 
For instance, she begins her story 
of the early visions with the admis- 
sion that she had told little about 
the youth of the Prophet. "Some of 
my readers will be disappointed," 
she acknowledges, since leading 
questions had been repeatedly put 
to her about supposed "remarkable 
incidents" of his childhood: "but, as 
nothing occurred during his early 
life except those trivial circum- 
stances which are common to that 
state of hurrian existence, I pass 
them in silence." 6 Such realism 
argues well for Lucy Mack Smith's 
honesty in the remaining record of 
her son. 

The memoirs of William Smith 
nicely supplement those of the 
mother. One sees Joseph Smith 
through very feminine, the other 
through very masculine eyes. More- 
over, the confidence of the mother 
is balanced by the more detached 
point of view of the brother. In 
this case, the brother is the most 
spiritually skeptical of all of the 
Smith family. His later religious 
history proves a lifelong rebel- 
liousness, tempered only by older 

years. 

At the time of Joseph Smith's 
visions, Hyrum and Samuel H. 
Smith had followed their mother 
into the Presbyterian Church, while 
most other family members were 
religious yet aloof from organized 
religion. William, however, de- 
scribes himself as not even religious. 
Family worship "often became irk- 
some or tiresome to me," he writes 



82 



of this early period; he paid "no 
attention to religion of any kind. 
. . ." Only a powerful experience 
could unite this religiously divided 
family, and Lucy Mack Smith and 
William represented opposite poles. 

Carelessly quoting William Smith 
is an irresponsible procedure. He 
published rather detailed recollec- 
tions of his youth in 1S83. 7 He also 
wrote detailed comments on the 
published stories about the Prophet 
about 1875. s Besides this, access to 
William's memory is gained mainly 
through an interview of 1841, 9 a 
speech of 1884, ao and an inter- 
view of 1893. n These five basic 
sources for William Smith show a 
historical method that resembles 
his religious career, spontaneous 
and not highly organized. Sequence 
is not as important to him as mak- 
ing his point with a random illus- 
tration. One must be aware of 
these characteristics because he 
does not relate the first vision of 
his brother. That is understandable, 
first of all, because he was barely 
nine when it took place. Further- 
more, speaking of later visions, he 
indicated firm belief but careless- 
ness: "being young and naturally 
high-spirited, I did not realize the 
importance of such things as I 
should have done. . . " r - Memory 
depends on deep interest. William, 
therefore, writes impressionistic 
history, recalling accurately his 
basic feelings of a time while often 
only approximating details. In this 
matter, he is his own best critic, 
for more than once he alerts the 
reader that Joseph Smith's story is 
more precise than his own: "A more 
elaborate and accurate description 
of his vision, however, will be found 
in his own history." 1 '' 

Through the recollections of 
Lucy Mack and William Smith, the 
clock can be turned back to the day 
when Joseph announced Moroni's 
coming to the family. As discussed, 
the stripling prophet first confided 



this news to his father in the field. 
Of course, Lucy Smith was not 
there, but from family knowledge 
she reported that on that morning 
Alvin noticed an unusual slackness 
in Joseph's work and that "Joseph 
was very pale." 11 William con- 
firmed this episode from firsthand 
knowledge: "I was at work in the 
field together with Joseph and my 
eldest brother Alvin. Joseph looked 
pale and unwell. . . ." 15 

The most dramatic moment that 
day for the family circle was 
Joseph's narration to them of his 
visions of the night before. William 
places this event prior to Joseph's 
going to the hill, and Mother Smith 
afterwards. Yet both could be 
right. Possibly Joseph gave an 
announcement before and a de- 
tailed report afterwards. As to the 
family's reaction, there is no doubt. 
Lucy Mack Smith describes the 
intense interest of Alvin and "the 
most profound attention" of the 
entire family at Joseph's first re- 
ports of what had happened to him. 
William also described the family's 
reaction to Joseph's explanations: 
"They were astounded, but not 
altogether in credulous. " 1(! 

The foregoing words are those of 
an interested professor of church 
history who talked at length with 
William in 1841. Later William 
specifically described the reaction 
of the Smiths when Joseph told 
them of Moroni's coming: 

"[H]e arose and told us how the 
angel appeared to him, what he had 
told him. . . . He continued talking 
to us [for] sometime. The whole 
family were melted to tears, and 
believed all he said. Knowing that 
he was very young, that he had not 
enjoyed the advantages of a com- 
mon education; and knowing too, 
his whole character and disposi- 
tion, they were convinced that he 
was totally incapable of arising be- 
fore his aged parents, his brothers 
and sisters, and so solemnly giving 



Era, October 1970 83 




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utterance to anything but the 
truth." 17 In this comment William 
singled out reasons for the implicit 
trust of the household in the nearly 
18-year-old Joseph: his limited 
education, and "his whole character 
and disposition." There are im- 
portant historical insights on these 
points that enable one to see young 
Joseph Smith through the eyes of 
his day-to-day companions. 

First of all, it came as a shock 
that the teenager thought himself 
capable of writing a book. One 
autobiographical sketch summarizes 
his total education in one terse 
sentence: "My father was a farmer 
and taught me the art of hus- 
bandry." 18 That is to say, muscle 
and tools were his skills, not study 
and books. Although not illiterate, 
Joseph at this point of life was 
relatively unskilled in reading and 
writing. One contemporary at Pal- 
myra pays him the compliment ol 
showing native intelligence in the 
"juvenile debating club," 19 but it is 
a long leap from that to gaining 
either the interest or capacity to 
reproduce scripture. 

Joseph himself commented on the 
demands of life that prevented his 
doing much reading. He mentioned 
the "indigent circumstances" of the 
family, and the necessity "to labor 
hard" to support the dozen mem- 
bers alive in 1823. This "required 
the exertions of all that were able 
to render any assistance for the sup- 
port of the family; therefore, we 
were deprived of the benefit of an 
education. Suffice it to say, I was 
merely instructed in reading, writ- 
ing, and the ground rules of arith- 
metic, which constituted my whole 
literary acquirements." 20 

William and Lucy Smith concur. 
The former pictures his brother as 
educated only in a rudimentary 
way : "That he was illiterate to some 
extent is admitted, but that he was 
entirely unlettered is a mistake. In 
syntax, orthography, mathematics, 



84 



grammar, geography, with other 
studies in the common schools of 
his day, he was no novice, and for 
writing, he wrote a plain, intelligi- 
ble hand."- 1 In other words, Joseph 
had taken advantage of limited op- 
portunities for basic education, but 
( as his mother insists ) he was any- 
thing but widely read: at 18 he 
"had never read the Bible through 
in his life. He seemed much less 
inclined to the perusal of books 
than any of the rest of our children, 
but far more given to meditation 
and deep study." 22 The Smith fam- 
ily measured the adolescent Joseph 
and found it unbelievable that he 
would know history or aspire to 
writing it down without the divine 
direction that he claimed. 

If formal education was sub- 
ordinate to survival, it was the 
latter that fashioned the personali- 
ties of the men of the Smith family. 
Here Alvin's known dutifulness 
reveals the similarly conditioned 
traits of the older sons— and Alvin's 
dutifulness was also a profound in- 
fluence on Joseph. The Prophet 
had loved and identified with his 
oldest brother. Visiting his sister 
Katherine 20 years after Alvin's 
death, he recalled the use of his 
brother's physical prowess in de- 
fending an underdog: when one 
Irishman sought to gouge out an- 
other's eyes in a fight, "Alvin took 
him by his collar and breeches and 
threw him over the ring, which had 
been formed to witness the fight." 23 

To love Alvin was to love his 
capacity for obedience: "I remem- 
ber well the pangs of sorrow that 
swelled my youthful bosom and al- 
most burst my tender heart when 
he died. He was the oldest and the 
noblest of my father's family. . . . 
In him there was no guile. He lived 
without spot from the time he was 
a child. From the time of his birth 
he never knew mirth. He was can- 
did and sober and never would 
play, and minded his father and 



mother in toiling all day. . . ." 21 
An untimely death came to Alvin 
in 1823. His mother recounts the 
deathbed drama, as he exhorted his 
mature brothers to the responsibil- 
ity that he had shouldered all of his 
life. He also encouraged his brother 
Joseph to be obedient to the revela- 
tions of the angel. It is impressive 
that such a strong personality as 
Alvin believed in Joseph's revela- 
tions implicitly. It is also impressive 
that he considered Joseph an obedi- 
ent person. Obviously a great 
measure of Alvin's seriousness 
about life was also found in the 
personality of his prophet-brother. 
William writes: "I was quite wild 
and inconsiderate, paying no atten- 
tion to religion of any kind, for 
which I received frequent lectures 
from my mother and my brother 
Joseph." 25 

His mother gives this same pic- 
ture of Joseph. Late in life she 
summarized her achievement of 
raising a half-dozen boys and ob- 
served, "never was there a more 
obedient family." 20 This is known 
to be true of the cluster of older 
brothers that surrounded Joseph. 
Alvin, about seven years Joseph's 
senior, "was a youth of singular 
goodness of disposition— kind and 
amiable. . . ," 27 Hyrum, older than 
Joseph by some six years, was "re- 
markable for his tenderness and 
sympathy" and consistently was "a 
good, trusty boy." 28 Samuel, some 
two years younger than Joseph, 
"always performed his missions 
faithfully," 29 whether in the Church 
or in the Smith household. These 
characterizations of her sons by 
Lucy Mack Smith harmonize com- 
pletely with their personalities in 
later life.'' His mother said that 
Joseph, a product of the same en- 
vironment, was "a remarkably 
quiet, well-disposed child." 31 

The responsibilities that molded 
these elder Smith brothers were 
alluded to by the younger William. 



Era, October 1970 85 




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He summed up the economic chal- 
lenge of moving on to forested land 
and the result obtained within 
seven years: "While there we 
cleared a large farm, built a house, 
planted an orchard, and had com- 
menced living in more comfortable 
circumstances." 32 The details are 
impressive. "We cleared sixty acres 
of the heaviest timber I ever saw," 33 
this work "in about five years." 34 
"Some of the elms were . . . too 
large to be cut with a cross-cut 
saw." 31 After cutting, the wood was 
gathered for burning: if anyone 
"had wanted to see Joseph at that 
time and remained very long, he 
would have had to be in the field 
rolling logs or carrying brush." 30 
On the place there were "from 
twelve to fifteen hundred sugar 
trees, and to gather the sap and 
make sugar and molasses from that 
number of trees was no lazy job." 37 
Originally, their land did not even 
have a dwelling on it: "The im- 
provements made on this farm 
[were] first commenced by build- 
ing a log house at no small expense, 
and at a later date a frame house 
at a cost of several hundred dol- 
lars," 3 * a cash outlay in scarce 
dollars after the 1820 depression. 
A "good fence" around 60 acres was 
also built, and "outbuildings, etc." 39 
In addition to their own taxing 
work, the older sons constantly 
hired out: "Whenever the neigh- 
bors wanted a good day's work 
done, they knew where they could 
get a good hand, and they were 
not particular to take any of the 
other boys before Joseph, either." 40 
In all the labor described above, 
"Joseph did his share of the work 
with the rest of the boys." 41 Over- 
years of trying conditions, the 
Smith family knew Joseph as per- 
sonally dependable, no small test in 
a frontier society. This is the ob- 
jective background for William's 
view that Joseph's "whole character 
and disposition" compelled all the 



86 



family to believe in his visions. 

One episode from the Prophet's 
youth brings his basic nature into 
sharp focus. This is his painful 
bone extraction without anesthesia 
in late childhood, known ordinarily 
from Lucy Mack Smith's published 
account of it, but also recorded in 
fair detail in a Nauvoo manuscript 
note by the Prophet. Before ob- 
serving Joseph's heroism in that 
ordeal, it is necessary to discuss 
some background of that event. 
All of the Smith children had been 
born in Vermont up to and includ- 
ing William, whose birthdate there 
is March 13, 1811. Then Lucy 
Mack Smith says that the family- 
moved during 1811 to Lebanon, 
New Hampshire, where Katherine 
was born July 8, 1812. 42 

While at Lebanon Joseph Smith's 
operation took place. An approxi- 
mate date is possible because this 
surgery was preceded by an epi- 
demic that threatened the lives of 
several of the Smith children. As 
Mother Smith says, "The typhus 
fever came into Lebanon, and 
raged tremendously." 43 Joseph re- 
membered being cared for in this 
period by Dr. Smith, of nearby 
Hanover. This dates the epidemic, 
for Dr. Nathan Smith moved from 
Dartmouth College to Yale Univer- 
sity in the fall of 1813. 44 Further- 
more, writing his medical memoirs 
in 1831, he remembered a typhus 
epidemic at the time: "In the 
autumn of 1812, Professor Perkins, 
now of New York, and myself, at- 
tended between fifty and sixty 
cases of typhus in the vicinity of 
Dartmouth College. . . ." 45 Joseph's 
leg infection followed the epidemic, 
so it is highly probable that his 
operation took place in the winter 
of 1812-1813. This means that we 
are studying the reactions of a boy 
seven years of age. 

The "typhus" of that epidemic 
would now be typhoid, complica- 
tions after which may affect bone 



tissue in the manner indicated by 
Lucy and Joseph Smith. Both re- 
count the infectious pain and its 
intensification in his leg, but Joseph 
gives the more objective, summary 
account : 

"And I endured the most acute 
suffering for a long time, under the 
care of Drs. Smith, Stone, and 
Perkins, of Hanover. At one time 
eleven doctors came from Dart- 
mouth Medical College, at Han- 
over, New Hampshire, for the 
purpose of amputation, but, young 
as I was, I utterly refused to give 
my assent to the operation, but 
consented to their trying an experi- 
ment by removing a large portion 
of the bone from my left leg, which 
they did. And fourteen additional 
pieces of bone afterwards worked 
out before my leg healed, during 
which time I was reduced so very 
low that my mother could carry me 
with ease. And after I began to get 
about, I went on crutches till I 
started for the state of New 
York " 4fi 

After 30 years, Joseph Smith re- 
called his basic facts correctly. 
Doctors Smith and Perkins did 
practice jointly in Hanover and 
were on the Dartmouth medical 
faculty. The "eleven doctors" were 
undoubtedly medical students- 
some 18 graduated in the class of 
1813. Dr. Smith was famed for his 
skill as a surgeon in such cases. 
In fact, accounts of his operations 
and the recollections of Joseph and 
Lucy Smith precisely agree. More 
might be said of all this; the ques- 
tion at hand, however, concerns 
the insight that the incident gives 
into the character of young Joseph 
Smith. 

The first significant point con- 
cerns what Joseph Smith did not 
say about himself. Spare of words 
and terse on his own suffering, he 
treats his own experience without 
exaggeration. Such a fact has ob- 
vious implications for assessing 



Era, October 1970 87 



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whether his supernatural experi- 
ences might be believed. His moth- 
er's account moves to the level of 
personal details of the operation. 
Following known practices, the boy 
was offered liquor for pain. At that 
solemn moment he avoided what 
many religious people then branded 
evil. Likewise, he opposed orders 
that he be bound. Preserving 
physical liberty, he insisted that he 
could best endure pain in the arms 
of his trusted father. Sensitive to 
his mother's feelings, the boy re- 
quested that she leave the room. 
Lucy vividly remembered that 
moment: "Then looking up into 
my face, his eyes swimming in 
tears, he continued, 'Now mother, 
promise me that you will not stay, 
will you? The Lord will help me, 
and I shall get through with it." 17 
The necessarily brutal incision and 
forcible bone removal brought 
screams of pain, but the first time 
his mother entered the room, young 
Joseph recovered enough compo- 
sure to direct her to leave: "I will 
try to tough it out, if you will go 
away." 43 

Courage is first cousin to respon- 
sibility and is superbly shown by 
Joseph Smith as the child verged 
upon preadolescent accountabil- 
ity. 49 What appears clearly is total 
trust in his parents, acute empathy 
with loved ones, and the power of 
a personality that knew how to 
submit to reality. In this single 
pre-vision episode, one can see 
qualities that made Joseph's first 
testimony believable. 

In the light of the known char- 
acter of young Joseph Smith, the 
family's complete trust of him is a 
striking fact. William Smith re- 
peatedly told of the angel's coming, 
with emphasis on the acceptance 
of that story by his household: 
"[T]here was not a single member 
of the family of sufficient age to 
know right from wrong but what 
had implicit confidence in the 



88 



statements made by my brother 
Joseph concerning his vision, and 
the knowledge he thereby obtained 
concerning the plates."'" 

No serious question can be 
raised concerning the sincerity of 
the Smiths, for they sacrificed 
reputation and safety by upholding 
Joseph's testimony. Consequently, 
their impressions of young Joseph 
are a major historical tool. They 
knew the young Prophet intimately; 
they saw his expressions while re- 
lating his visions, and they judged 
his sincerity. They are a critical 
means of standing close to Joseph's 
visions and judging their validity. 

It is hard to dismiss the common- 
sense judgments of the practical 
brother of the Prophet: "All be- 
lieved it was true: father, mother, 
brothers, and sisters. You can tell 



what a child is. Parents know 
whether their children are truthful 
or not." 51 

In his last known interview 
William Smith drove that point 
home, in answer to the question of 
whether the Smiths did not occa- 
sionally doubt Joseph's testimony: 

"No. We all had the most implicit 
confidence in what he said. He 
was a truthful boy. Father and 
mother believed him. Why should 
not the children? I suppose if he 
had told crooked stories about 
other things, we might have 
doubted his word about the plates, 
but Joseph was a truthful boy. 
That father and mother believed 
his report and suffered persecution 
for that belief shows that he was 
truthful. No sir, we never doubted 
his word for one minute." 52 O 



FOOTNOTES 



'Joseph Smith 2:49. Modifications in quotations 
in this article are confined to spelling, capitalization, 
and punctuation. 

2 Lucy Mack Smith, Biographical Sketches of loseph 
Smith (Liverpool, 1853), p. 82. 

3 Manuscript History of the Church, Bk. A-1, pp. 
121-22, November 9, 1835. 

■•Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, December 9, 1834. 

*lbid. 

'Lucy Mack Smith, p. 73. 

'William Smith, William Smith on Mormonism 
(Lamoni, Iowa, 1883). The latter quotation above on 
William's lack of religion is at page 10. 

'William Smith, Notes Written on Chamber's 
Miscellany. For convenience, the highly accurate 
Church Historian's typescript page numbers will be 
cited. For details on this manuscript, see Richard L. 
Anderson, "Joseph Smith's New York Reputation 
Reappraised," Brigham Young University Studies, 
Vol. 10 (Spring 1970), pp. 312-13. The earlier 
quotation above on William's lack of religion is at page 
18. 

'lames Murdock, "Origin of the Mormons," New 
Haven, Connecticut, |une 19, 1841, in Peoria Register 
and North-Western Gazetteer, September 3, 1841, 
hereafter cited as Murdock Interview. No copies 
of the original Hartford Observer article are known. 
Murdock, who interviewed William Smith, was a 
major American church historian. 

l0 "The Old Soldier's Testimony," speech at Deloit, 
Iowa, )une 8, 1884, Saints' Herald, Vol. 31 (1884), 
pp. 643-44; hereafter cited as Deloit Speech. 

"J. W. Peterson, "William B. Smith's Last State- 
ment," Zion's Ensign, Vol. 5 (1894), No. 3, p. 6, 
hereafter cited as Peterson Interview. 

12 William Smith on Mormonism, p. 15. 

n lbid., p. 9. William's apparent personal lack of 
knowledge prior to 1823 is treated in Richard Lloyd 
Anderson, "Circumstantial Confirmation of the First 
Vision Through Reminiscences," Brigham Young Uni- 
versity Studies, Vol. 9 (Spring 1969), pp. 398-401. 

'"Lucy Mack Smith, p. 82. 

'^William Smith on Mormonism, p. 9. 

"Murdock Interview. 

" William Smith on Mormonism, pp. 9-10. 

l8 "Wentworth Letter," Times and Seasons, Vol. 3 
(1842), p. 706. 

"See Anderson, "Circumstantial Confirmation," p. 
379. 



"Manuscript History, 1832, extracted from Kirtland 
Letter Book, cit. Dean C. lessee, "The Early Accounts of 
loseph Smith's First Vision," Brigham Young University 
Studies, Vol. 9 (Spring 1969), p. 279. 

2l William Smith, Notes, p. 17. 

"Lucy Mack Smith, p. 84. 

"loseph Smith lournal, kept by Willard Richards 
lanuary 9, 1843, cit. (oseph Smith, History of the 
Church of jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake 
City, 1919), Vol. 5, p. 247. 

2i lbid., pp. 126-27. 

25 William Smith on Mormonism, p. 10. 

"Conference address, October 8, 1845, Times and 
Seasons, Vol. 6 (1845), p. 1014. 

27 Lucy Mack Smith, p. 89. 

"Ibid., p. 63. 

"Ibid., p. 185. 

30 See Richard Lloyd Anderson, "The Smiths Who 
Handled the Plates," Era, Vol. 72 (August 1969), pp. 28ff. 

3l Lucy Mack Smith, p. 73. 

u William Smith on Mormonism, p. 5. 

"Peterson Interview. 

"Deloit Speech. 

^Ibid. 

3b lbid. 

"Peterson Interview. 

"William Smith, Notes, p. 17. 

^William Smith on Mormonism, pp. 12-13. 

40 Peterson Interview. 

"Ibid. 

"Lucy Mack Smith, pp. 40-41, 56, 58. 

"Ibid., p. 60. 

44 Emily A. Smith, The Life and Letters of Nathan 
Smith, M. B., M.D. (New Haven, 1914), pp. 88-90. Dr. 
Smith writes from New Hampshire up to September 
1813 and then from Connecticut from December 1813. 

45 Nathan Smith, Medical and Surgical Memoirs 
(Baltimore, 1831), pp. 75-76. 

46 Manuscript History of the Church, opening 
narrative. Note A, location and composition described in 
lessee, "Early Accounts" (n. 20 supra), pp. 291, 294. 
Acknowledgment is made to President loseph Fielding 
Smith for permission to publish Note A. 

"Lucy Mack Smith, pp. 64-65. 

™lbid. 

4, C. N. Ottosen, "Baptism— Why Age Eight?" 
fra, Vol. 73 (August 1970), pp. 4ff. 

50 William Smith, Notes, p. 8. 

51 Deloit Speech. "Peterson Interview. 



Era, October 1970 89 



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Madsen Interview 

Thanks for the fine interview with Dr. 
Truman Madsen [Era of Youth, July]. 
Being a philosophy student at a Catholic 
seminary has given me some insight' to 
various truths. Dr. Madsen not only 
possesses consciousness of the intricate 
truths of the intellectual, but the ability 
to sift these truths and interweave them 
logically in light of the restored gospel of 
Jesus Christ. Since I Joined the Church 
five years ago, it is through many such 
fine people who inspire me that I am 
aware that the glory of God is intelli- 
gence, and it is through study and prayer 
that we know we not only have truth, 
but the truth. 

Gary McLaughlin 
McKeesport, Pennsylvania 

Reflection 

Your June Era was particularly good. I 
enjoyed immensely the conference talks 
and other articles. Sister Fellows' story 
"Reflection" was one of the best I've read 
in a long time. The June issue was par- 
ticularly interesting by the inclusion of 
the statistical report. Please print re- 
ports such as this and the one in the 
November 1966 Era of Church popula- 
tion distribution, mentioning the Church 
population by states and country. 

William Tincher, Jr. 

LaPort, Indiana 

Glory of Hebrew 

With respect to the work discussed in 
"The Glory of Hebrew" [July], I must 
disagree with some of the conclusions. 
While kabod may anciently have meant 
body, it certainly cannot have that mean- 
ing in biblical passages containing the 
word. The Arabic cognate root kbd has 
essentially the same meaning as that of 
the Hebrew— i.e., heaviness or importance. 
This meaning therefore antedates the 
separation of Northwest Semitic (which 
includes Hebrew) from Southwest Semi- 
tic (which includes Arabic). 

Moreover, I find in Arnolt's Assyrian 
Dictionary that the Akkadian cognate 
root kbt likewise refers to heaviness and 
body. The root kbd may have had the 
meaning of "physical body" in proto- 
Semitic, but, because the three main divi- 
sions of the Semitic languages do not 
have this meaning, it is evident that, in 
biblical times, when the separation be- 
tween the divisions had already taken 
place, it could not have had that meaning. 
John A. Tvedtnes 
Salt Lake City, Utah 

90 



Danger Signals 

I have just read Dr. Lindsay Curtis's arti- 
cle on "The Seven Danger Signals of a 
Sick Marriage" [August]. I thought it 
was very good, but I wonder if it would 
be possible in an issue to write about 
physical violence in marriage. I never 
thought that this would be a problem in 
my marriage because it is so far removed 
from anything I had ever known. But I 
have a husband who is active in the 
Church and who has a difficult time con- 
trolling his violent temper. Apparently 
anything can set him off into a tantrum— 
and physical violence to persons near 
him. I realize this shouldn't be in a 
marriage. Our temple covenants are im- 
portant to us. Help is needed. 

Anonymous 



The Church procedure for obtaining help 
is to see your bishop. 



Separation 
By Webb Dycus 

How far a shadow reaches 
No one can ever say; 
But standing in the morning, 
Beside a pasture fence, 
I saw poplar's shadow 
Lean down the growing day 
In towering proportion — 
And knew its eloquence. 

You wore an easy laughter 
When you were here with me, 
And walked beside me proudly, 
As you have always done. 
I'm learning now to miss you 
With less intensity. 
You cannot measure shadoivs — 
They vary with the sun. 



Era, October 1970 91 




A CHILD GOES FORTH 



by Barbara J. Taylor 

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Written by Barbara J. Taylor, coordinator for the 
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activity guide. Parents of preschool children will 
find it to be an invaluable reference and 
source book in directing a child's physical, 
mental, and emotional development. Order your 
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The Soviet-West German Treaty 

TheseTimes I ByDr - G - Homer Durham 

I Commissioner and Executive Officer, Utah System of Higher Education 



• News reports August 7, 1970, 
indicated agreement on the text of 
a West German-Soviet treaty. Dur- 
ing the same week a 90-day cease- 
fire began to be observed between 
Israel and Egypt. Secretary of De- 
fense Melvin Laird admitted to 
U.S. air offensives in Cambodia. 
Meanwhile, strategic arms limita- 
tions talks between the United 
States and the Soviet Union ap- 
peared to be progressing. 

The treaty between the Soviet 
Union and West Germany, among 
all these related events, may be 
the most important. It may be part 
of the price the U.S. had to pay 
for the cease-fire. It may relate to 
silent Russian acknowledgment of 
an American sphere in Southeast 
Asia. 

It directly, of course, relates 
to possible new courses and rela- 
tionships in Europe. Those pat- 
terns will have worldwide over- 
tones. 



The text of the treaty was not 
available as this was written. Be- 
yond the text, when it does appear, 
may well exist secret agreements 
or understandings between the two 
parties. But the following observa- 
tions seem warranted: 

1. Settlement of Europe's post- 
World War II boundaries appears 
to follow the agreements of the 
past 25 years. 

2. West Germany evidently made 
the treaty with the knowledge, and 
without the opposition, of the 
United States, France, and Britain. 

3. Increased economic east-west 
traffic, especially between Russia 
and Germany, may tend to link 
East and West Germany. What hap- 
pens to telephone service in Ber- 
lin, the city divided for a quarter 
century, for example, may symbol- 
ize something. U.S. discourage- 
ment of a Ford factory in Russia 
may have been related to Ameri- 
can political goals, worldwide, 



which also relate to West German 
industrial entry into the vast but 
controlled Soviet markets. 

4. German-Russian accords have 
generally been short-lived, but dy- 
namic in their effects. The big 
question, after the treaty goes into 
effect, will be, "What next?" 

5. "What next" could include 
West German rearmament as a nu- 
clear power, aided and abetted by 
the western allies. Bismarck's 
drang < nach osten, and Willy 
Brandt's "ostpolitik" of 1970, with 
or without German rearmament, 
will affect the balance of power in 
Europe and in the world. 

6. Russia evidently believes that 
West Germany is no longer an 
"American puppet." Russia may 
be gambling on loosening the 
Common Market and thereby 
weakening the small semblance of 
European political unity that has 
developed, under American en- 
couragement, since 1945. 



Era, October 1970 93 



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7. Russia, with its eyes on the 
growing industrial might of its Ger- 
man neighbor, may have lost a 
strategic position of leadership in 
the Arab world, so far as Egypt is 
concerned. While Gromyko and 
Walter Scheel, the German foreign 
minister, were occupied in the dis- 
cussions leading to August 7, U.S. 
Secretary of State William Rogers 
was busy in the Middle East. Mr. 
Rogers and the Americans may not 
have been successful in "detach- 
ing" Nasser from the Soviets, but 
anti-Soviet sentiments in Cairo, 
plus some new American blandish- 
ments to Egypt (not yet disclosed), 
may have helped produce the 
cease-fire. With the cease-fire 
came some redivision in the Arab 
world. With this comes new de- 
pendence, on the part of Egypt, on 
American willingness and ability to 
restrain Israel. 

8. In a curious way, the United 
States may have become, in the 
summer of 1970, the protector of 
both Israel and Egypt. Considering 
Russian ambitions in that part of 
the world, this is not a bad situa- 
tion. It is difficult. But perhaps it 
is easier for a Republican adminis- 
tration to overcome or ride with 
anti-Nasser sentiment, than a 
Democratic administration. Since 
U.S. -Egyptian relations deterior- 
ated under President Dwight Eisen- 
hower and John Foster Dulles (and 
Russian influence increased), po- 
etic "justice" under President 
Richard Nixon may be tolerated by 
those Americans who would rather 
see Egypt neutral and friendly. 
What an achievement Mr. Nixon 
would have if tourists could visit 
both Cairo and the Holy Land with- 
out anxiety! 

9. Making it possible for a tour- 
ist to visit the pyramids and the 
Mount of Olives in the same day 
may not be as difficult as reopen- 
ing the Suez Canal. The Soviet- 
West German treaty, however, will 



94 



also affect that situation. The 
United States may have indicated 
some willingness to assist in that 
objective in suggesting a cease-fire 
to Nasser. But if the United States 
is willing to help open the canal 
and admit Russia to the Indian 
Ocean, I believe we must expect a 
deepening involvement and Amer- 
ican effort in the Arabian penin- 
sula. 

10. If the West German econ- 
omy can hypnotize and preoccupy 
the Soviet Union, even for a few 
months, the treaty these two pow- 
ers signed in August 1970 may be 
the most clever piece of diplomacy 
since Bismarck. In the light of 
Romantic history, such diplomacy 
could have originated in London. 
But in these times, it could also 
represent political maturation in 
Washington, D. C. 

What of the especial interests of 
readers of this magazine? 

Well, if things can settle down 
in Southeast Asia without Russian 
and Chinese overtness, and if 
American influence slowly neutral- 
izes the Russian thrust into the 
Arab world, there could, in the 
next quarter century, develop 
stakes and missions in the Indian 
Ocean basin and its inlets, in 
India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Iraq, Iran. 
The Arabian peninsula and East 
Africa may come later. But who 
knows? 

The Russo-German nonaggres- 
sion pact of 1939 lasted only a few 
weeks. It then exploded in the Ger- 
man blitzkrieg that carried Hitler's 
armies to Stalingrad. 

In 1970 it is difficult to foresee 
such explosive consequences of a 
Russo-German accord. Rather, 
more subtle results can be antici- 
pated. But there will be results. As 
the world teeters between hope 
and disaster, Russia will make new 
moves. They will be worldwide in 
their scope. So will be the new 
moves of the USA. o 



End of an Era 



Any child can tell you 
what's wrong with today's 
parents. They think they know 
more than their children. 

— Farmer's Almanac 



The compilation of an 
individual family record is a duty 
of such sacred importance 
that it cannot be wholly 
entrusted to others to do for us. 
The responsibility for 
compiling a record for our 
own family rests with each one 
of us in our individual 
families. 

— Elder Theodore M. Burton 



A psychiatrist saw another 
psychiatrist racing down the 
street with a couch on 
his head. "Why the couch?" he 
called after his colleague, 
and the hurrying one replied 
breathlessly: "House call!" 



The morns are meeker than 

they were, 
The nuts are getting brown; 
The berry's cheek is plumper, 
The rose is out of town. 
— Emily Dickinson, "Autumn" 



Signs of the Times . . . 

On a milk truck: "Our cows 

are not contented. They're 

anxious to do better!" 

In a reducing salon : "A word 

to the wide is sufficient." 

At a hearing aid store: "Let us 

give you some sound advice." 

In a travel agency: "For the 

family that strays together." 

In a clock shop : "There's no 

present like the time." 



Some minds are like concrete — 
all mixed up and permanently set. 



The professor stepped up on 

the platform and, by way of 

breaking the ice, remarked: 

"I've just been asked to 

come up here and say something 

funny.'" A student heckler 

in the back of the hall 

called out, "You'll tell us when 

you say it, won't you?" 

"I'll tell you," the professor 

responded. "The others 

will know." 



It's all right to hold a 
conversation, but you should 
let go of it now and then. 

— Richard Armour 



Worry affects the circulation, 
the heart, the glands, the 
whole nervous system. 
I have never known a man who 
died from overwork, but 
many who died from doubt. 
— Dr. Charles Mayo 



Life Among 
the Mormons 

Because of previous 
commitments, one family was 
finding it increasingly 
difficult to hold family 
home evening. After 
numerous postponements, the 
father awakened his 
children at 5:00 a.m. 
"Everybody up ! It's family 
morning 1" It was amazing 
how swiftly the children 
were able to arrange 
their schedules to 
accommodate family home 
evening. 
-Carma Rossi, 
Centerville, Utah 



At the dinner table, six-year-old 
Jared asked his dad where he 
was going that evening. "I'm 
going to the stake center to 
watch the television broadcast 
of general priesthood meeting," 
he was told. "Can I go with 
you?" "In a few years, 
when you're old enough to hold 
the priesthood," dad replied. 
Melanie, the three-year-old 
daughter, then asked if she could 
hold the priesthood. Told that 
girls don't hold the priesthood, 
she looked dejected until 
Jared explained, "Never mind, 
Melanie — when you get big 
you can hold the Relief Society." 
— Don Thayne, Taylorsville, Utah 

"End of an Era" will pay $3 for humorous anec- 
dotes and experiences that relate to the Latter-day 
Saint way of life. Maximum length 150 words. 



Era, October 1970 95 



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